A Convergence of Fate
by Zoruaeon
Summary: Rewrite in progress under the name A Continuation of Fate!
1. Chapter 1

**I've been a reader of fanfiction for a few years now and have finally decided to try my own. I'm going to be using Japanese suffixes for some names as well as Onee-chan (older sister), Onii-chan (older brother), and Imouto (younger sister) throughout this story as I believe they flow better in writing than the English counterparts. Also, if anyone is suddenly overcome with the urge to beta-read this story then send me a pm so we can work things out.**

**Oh, yeah. I obviously don't own anything relating to the Fate franchise. That honor belongs to the amazing people of Type-Moon.**

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**Prologue: A Successful Summoning**

It was the night that Rin Tohsaka would finally summon a Heroic Spirit to act as her Servant in the Fifth Holy Grail War. She had waited until the very last minute so that her chances of summoning Saber would be greater. Now only a few more Servant slots still remained with the Saber class being one of them. Rin was a little wo-…concerned that she didn't have a Catalyst to summon a specific Heroic Spirit. Instead she would summon the one that was most suited for her personality. Although, it might be better this way. Working with a Servant that had differing values from her own and who she may not get along with would just be an added difficulty during the war. Yes, it was better to summon the Servant that would be the most compatible with her. This way there would be less arguments with her Servant about the right course of action which would ultimately translate to more time spent in the actual War and combating their opponents.

After reassuring herself of the situation, Rin prepared to begin the summoning ritual. She had planned out as much as she could for this ritual to succeed with the best results. She had created her summoning circle beforehand to ensure that she could perform the ritual at a specific time. Every Magus had a specific time of day where their prana would be at peak performance. For Rin, this was 2 am. As it was the middle of the night, this was a very traditional time for a Magus' peak performance to occur and was extremely beneficial for working in secret while most other people were in bed. Unfortunately, working with her magecraft so late at night was not particularly healthy for both a growing girl and her sleep schedule. Because of this, Rin was consistently tired during the early morning hours that she was required to get up at for school. It was not truly a hardship for Rin though, after all to be a Magus is to walk with death so this was actually a very small consequence by Magus standards. At least that is what Rin would tell herself each morning in an attempt to make waking up more bearable. It rarely worked. It was for this reason that Rin was preparing to summon her servant at exactly 2 am when her prana would be at its most powerful. Luckily for her, earlier that day at school her she had found out that all of her clocks were actually an hour early. Rin was extremely relieved to have found this out before she had attempted the ritual, who knows how that change would have affected the Servant she would summon. The more factors that increased her chances of success in this war the better and she did not have so many that she could accept losing even one, especially such a simple one to fix. Although, she reflected, dropping her persona of the school idol to earnestly thank her classmates who had pointed this fact out may have been unnecessary. They appeared very surprised at that little stunt and she truly did not need the complication of suspicions from her classmates with the Holy Grail War so close.

With a handful of prana infused magic Jewels, Rin stepped into her circle and began the summoning ritual. Using her Od to melt the Jewels, she intoned the incantation for summoning her Servant.

"_For the elements, silver and iron. _

_For the foundation, stone and the Archduke of Contracts. _

_For the ancestor, my great master, Schweinorg. _

_Close the gates fo the cardinal directions. _

_Come forth from the Crown, and follow the forked road leading to the Kingdom. _

_Fill, fill, fill, fill, fill. _

_Repeat five times. _

_But when each is filled, destroy it. _

_Set. _

_Heed my words. _

_My will creates your body, and your sword creates my destiny. _

_If you heed the Grail's call and obey my will and reason, then answer me. _

_I hereby swear…_

_That I shall be all the good in the world. _

_That I shall defeat all evil in the world. _

_You seven heavens, clad in the three great words of power, come forth from the circle of binding…_

_Guardian of the Scales!"_

While Rin was speaking the words of the ritual, the Jewels in her hand slowly melted onto the summoning circle beneath her. With each liquid piece of Jewel that fell onto the circle, it grew brighter and brighter until it was shining with an almost blinding intensity. As the final words were passionately spoken, the circle flared so brightly nothing could be seen for many moments. Rin opened the eyes she didn't remember closing to meet the Servant who would win her the Grail. ""In accordance to the rules of the Holy Grail, I have appeared. I ask you, are you my Master?""

The words echoed throughout the otherwise silent room with implied power behind them. Rin was momentarily speechless, but quickly regained her wits. "What is going on here?" Rin demanded.

""I know not what you speak of, Master,"" replied the Servant.

"Stop that," Rin spoke angrily, "It's creepy."

""Stop what, Master?"" the Servant spoke with a hint of amusement.

"If you two don't stop that, I will have force your compliance," Rin threatened while showing her Command Seals, representing the three absolute commands she could order of her Servant.

"As you wish," "Alright," the two Servants spoke separately for the first time.

"Good," Rin said triumphantly, "now tell me what happened? Why are there two of you? And why is Emiya-kun here?" Rin spoke with each question coming out faster and more angrily than the last. She was very confused, which is a state that she did not enjoy being in. For before Rin, the supposed Servants she had summoned for the Grail stood. One was a small, regal looking blonde haired girl with bright green eyes. She was dressed in what appeared to be a royal blue battle-dress with armored gauntlets. _'She's cute,_' the thought suddenly sounding in Rin's mind, then realizing this she immediately moved her eyes away from the royal figure as she wondered where that thought came from. The other Servant, though, brought even more confusion to Rin's mind. Rin knew this person as Shirou Emiya, a classmate of hers that had shown no previous magical potential or any other hint of power that would distinguish himself enough to be considered a Heroic Spirit. Yet he stood before her now, his normally bright red hair containing specks of white. He was also taller than the Emiya-kun she knew, with a slight tan as well. The only unique part about his clothes was the two halves of the bright red coat he wore, the top half covering his shoulders and back with the bottom connecting to his waistline and flaring out behind him. After this closer inspection, Rin determined that this was not Emiya-kun. It must just be a more obscure Heroic Spirit that bore a strong resemblance to him. Yes. That must be it.

"I will attempt to explain," the blonde Servant said, "you have summoned us for the Holy Grail War I assume?" Rin nodded. "We are the Paired Servant, which is how you have summoned us both as we would not be summoned separately," the Servant continued.

"What kind of title is that," Rin exclaimed, "the Paired Servant isn't even a Servant class, so how is it possible you are here?"

"Think of us like a special Servant class that replaces one of the usual classes," the not Emiya-kun interjected, "in this case we replaced the Archer class."

"So I didn't even manage to summon Saber?" Rin muttered depressed.

"Actually, Master," the blonde Servant spoke again, "in any other case I would be summoned in the Saber class."

"I'd probably be either Saber or Archer," the red haired Servant added.

Hearing this, Rin's face gained an evil smirk. Curiously, the two Servants visibly recoiled as if knowing the danger of this expression. "Excellent," Rin said gleefully, "not only did I summon one Saber, I got two! This War is as good as over with that kind of power on my side." Rin began to quietly laugh maliciously while the two Servants glanced at each other with a concerned expression on their face. In that instant, the Servants decided against telling their Master about certain events. If only to keep her from going mad with power. After having her evil genius moment, Rin spoke seriously again, "Now, I need to know which Heroic Spirits you two are and your capabilities so that I can plan our strategy accordingly."

A look passed between the Servants that was almost too fast for Rin to catch. After an imperceptible delay, the blonde Servant began, "Master, you do not need to know our identity to plan your strategy. Additionally, there would be no danger of enemies taking the secret of our identities from you if you do not know."

"Oh?" Rin said quietly. Her face had a scowl on it that caused her two Servants to look worried.

"Y-Yeah," the red haired Servant stuttered, "you never know what could happen on the battlefield so…so don't be angry, Rin, it's a smart strategy."

Hearing this, Rin scrutinized the male Servant closely. He fidgeted under her gaze. After what seemed to the Servant to be a long time, Rin spoke, "How do you know my name?"

The two Servants looked surprised then the female gave a slight glare at the male of the pair, yet both remained silent at the question. Rin stared at both Servants for a moment longer and nodded like she had made up her mind. She held up her hand, showing the Command Seals to the two Servants. "By the power of the Command Seal, I order you to tell me your identities," Rin intoned with finality. The Servants appeared shocked as they watched one of the three symbols of the Commands Rin had over them disappear, but quickly looked as if they were attempting to resist the Command. Unfortunately for them, the Command was not one which they would find abhorrent to comply with so their resistance inevitably broke. Yet again, by unspoken agreement, the female Servant spoke first.

"Although I would prefer to be referred to as Saber for the duration of this War," the blonde Servant said reluctantly, "my true identity is that of Arturia Pendragon, you would know me as King Arthur of Pendragon." Rin gave a small gasp in surprise upon hearing this. She could not believe the luck she had to summon a Servant as strong as King Arthur. His was one of the most well-known legends of the modern age, causing her Servant's power to be stronger than almost all lesser known Servants. Eagerly, Rin turned to the male Servant who looked even more reluctant to speak than Saber did.

"Er, yeah. I guess you should call me Archer during this War," the red haired Servant said, "um, don't freak out alright. My true name is Shirou Emiya."

"E-Emiya-kun?" Rin hesitantly asked. If it was possible for her to be any more shocked than she was right now, Rin never wanted to experience it.

"Yeah, it's me R-Master. I'm a little older than the Shirou you know but – What? Master are you blushing!?"

Rin quickly looked away from her two Servants with her face still red. She couldn't help it. She had always been a little, only a little!, attracted to Emiya-kun while in school, but to see that he had grown older to be even more appealing… "O-Of course not, Baka," Rin spoke with anger trying to mask her embarrassment, "I was just… surprised."

After recovering her composure, Rin turned back around to continue interrogating her new Servants. "But, how? How did you become a Heroic Spirit in this day and age? " Rin asked in confusion, "and how do you know King Arthur so well that you two are the Paired Servant?"

Saber and Emi-Archer looked conflicted, but the Command was only to tell Rin of their identities. Realizing this, the two quickly promised Rin that they would tell her at a later date when she wasn't as off-guard with surprise. Reluctantly, Rin agreed that perhaps it would be better to wait a short time to recover before hearing more surprises. She would have trouble processing what little she had been told already! "That aside, I'll still need to hear what your capabilities are. Then we should begin to patrol the town in search of other Masters and get you acquainted with the layout of the Fuyuki city."

"Uh, Rin?" Archer asked.

"Yes?"

"I did live here, I already know the city."

"W-Well yes, this is for Saber." Rin replied, embarrassed that she had already forgotten one of her Servants was Emiya-kun.

"Actually Master, my connection to Sh-Archer ensures that I too know the format of this city," Saber stated.

"Connection?" Rin asked.

"Yes, Master. As the Paired Servant we gain the benefits of being able to be summoned together and partner up to fight other Servants. Unfortunately, because we were both summoned under one Master we both receive prana from the same source. This means that our stats as a Servant are generally reduced and we cannot be a great distance from each other without undue strain upon our Master and ourselves. On the bright side, Master, you possess a large enough pool of prana that these effects are less than that of a weaker Master."

"Naturally," Rin preened, "I am the heiress to the Tohsaka family."

The two Servants looked at each other with amused expressions. "Regardless Master, the task of patrolling the city should be undertaken tomorrow. Even though Servants do not technically need sleep, we still benefit by providing rest for our minds and lessening the burden put upon our Master. In addition, we will all be more alert and efficient with proper rest. After all, fatigue is the enemy," said Saber. Archer snorted at the last statement, but agreed with Saber nonetheless. After some thought, Rin agreed that one final night of rest before the Grail War began would be beneficial. After all, the last Servant has yet to be even summoned.

With that decided, Rin began making her way out of the basement where the ritual had taken place and towards her room. After reaching the door to her bedroom, Rin turned around to see her two Servants directly behind her seemingly waiting to enter. "What are you doing?" Rin asked.

"As your Servants, it is our job to protect you at all times Master," Saber replied calmly.

Rin's eyes widened as she realized what Saber was implying. "W-What? Can't you do that by guarding the house? Or the door?" Rin asked panicked.

"Come on Master. It would be better if we could see and protect you at all times, especially when you are asleep and vulnerable. Is the Tohsaka heiress really that embarrassed about a little sleepover?" Archer replied teasingly.

"N-No. Of course not!" Rin exclaimed.

"Then there should be no problem," Archer stated with finality.

"Just…wait out here while I get changed," Rin said. She quickly rushed into her room and slammed the door on the Servants. After some time, right before Archer would have called out to see if Rin was alright, the door reopened with Rin standing at the threshold. "W-What are you waiting for? Come in already," she stated while feeling very self-conscious and naked even though her nightclothes covered her entire body. Rin turned around and moved towards the bed without looking at her Servants. She stood at the edge of the bed waiting for the two to get on so that she could take one of the edges but they also stood waiting for her. "This is what you wanted right? So get on the bed already," said Rin.

"It would be better if you took the middle Master. That way we could more easily protect you from all sides," Saber replied.

"R-Right," Rin stated. She reluctantly moved onto the center of the bed. Taking up her normal sleeping position by laying on her side, Rin closed her eyes as protection from the embarrassment of seeing the two join her in bed. After feeling the bed shift and finally settle as her two Servants also got on the bed, Rin opened her eyes to come face to face with the older version of Emiya-kun. Rin was surprised that Archer was so close to her and couldn't help but notice that he had removed his upper clothes to sleep, leaving only his pants. Feeling her face light up in a blush at seeing the muscular physique of her secret crush, Rin quickly turned around. (Un)fortunately for Rin, this view was almost just as bad. On her other side, Saber was also facing Rin and she was also much closer than Rin was expecting. Seeing the girl that her mind had previously thought of as cute watching her intently with an expression on her face that seemed almost mischievous caused Rin to blush even further. Rin also noticed that Saber had changed out of her battle-dress and into night clothes that drew much more attention to her body than the armor did. Just as quickly, Rin turned to lie on her back in the hopes that the embarrassment would finally stop. She had to sigh and wonder if she would actually be able to fall asleep tonight though, as Saber and Archer immediately snuggled into her sides. It would be a long night for the Tohsaka heiress.

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That same night within the Matou residence, another young girl was summoning a Heroic Spirit for the Holy Grail War. Unlike Rin though, Sakura was not alone while performing the ritual. Her adoptive grandfather Zouken Matou and adoptive brother Shinji Matou were there to witness the summoning. After making her plea to the Grail, her Servant appeared in a blinding flash of light. "In accordance to the rules of the Holy Grail, the Servant…Rider has appeared. I ask you, are you my master?" the newly identified Rider stated while looking towards Sakura.

"R-R-Ri," Sakura stuttered, the shock of seeing her new Servant overwhelming her. Rider sighed and glanced at the Command Seals on Sakura's hand to confirm that she was indeed Rider's Master.

"Sakura will not be your acting Master for the duration of this War, Rider," Zouken stated, "Shinji here will receive that honor." Seeing the eager, lust-filled expression on Shinji's face, Rider quickly decided to nip this repulsive idea in the bud.

"I will accept none but the one who summoned me as my Master," Rider stated imperiously,

"Surely, you can see that Shinji would make a more competent Master. Sakura is too fearful to even speak with you, how will she handle battling other Servants?" Zouken exclaimed.

"Even so, she will be my Master. Or, would you rather your family give up this chance for the Grail? I could always force the usage of all three command seals through disobedience," Rider replied while repressing the puzzling urge to make a joke involving the name Shirley. Rider quickly grabbed her Master by the hand and strode through the open door, before any more could be said on the subject.

"Ah, Rider?" Sakura asked.

"Yes, Master?" Rider replied.

"Why are you here?"

Rider paused. "I am here to protect you for as long as I am able."

"R-Really?"

"Yes, Master. I promise, nothing will harm you as long as I am here."

"Rider? May I call you Onee-chan?" Sakura asked, overcome with emotion.

Rider hesitated for only a moment before replying, "Yes you can, my Imouto."

Sakura guided Rider to her room with tears of joy and repressed sadness in her eyes. Upon reaching the doorway, Sakura turned to look at Rider imploringly. Before she could even ask though, Rider had already spoke, "Of course I will stay with you, Imouto." Sakura nodded gratefully and moved toward the bed. Too emotionally exhausted to even consider changing her clothes, Sakura practically fell onto the bed. Rider then climbed onto the bed with her, gave Sakura a small kiss on the forehead, and wrapped her arms around Sakura protectively. For the first time since being adopted into the Matou family, Sakura finally felt safe within the embrace of her Onee-chan. Sakura decided to wait to ask any other questions for another time and just enjoy this incredible feeling. She quickly fell asleep and experienced a rare night of peaceful rest. Rider stayed awake a short while longer, looking at Sakura intensely. Eventually Rider sighed and promised herself that she would protect Sakura from all who would harm her, especially that of her adoptive family. Then she too joined Sakura in the peaceful embrace of Morpheus with the knowledge that not everything could be accomplished at once. It would take some planning and patience to ensure that Sakura remained safe and happy from now on.

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**Well, that will be the end to the prologue. I'll be making the other chapters longer as we get into the story but this seemed like a good break to me. I'll be honest, my plan for this first chapter didn't include any of that heartfelt conversation between Rider and Sakura but it demanded to be put in while I was writing. So? What did you guys think? I will gladly accept all praise and constructive criticism for my writing. Questions are also welcome but I probably won't spoil any future events. I'm trying to make this story a bit different from the rest as you can already tell. Hopefully, that will become more evident as the plot develops.**

**Zoruaeon, signing off. (Don't try to pronounce my username, not even I know how)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own any part of the Fate series.**

**A big thanks to Shrapnel893 for beta-reading this chapter.**

**I was incredibly surprised and pleased at the large response to the first chapter of this story, so thank you. I received a few reviews expressing concerns over certain characters or situations, but all I'll say for now is that everything so far is completely intentional and that you'll have to wait to find out more.**

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_Sakura glanced around in confusion. Where was she? She did not remember how she got here. She could not even describe what here was. Her mind was slow. As if clouded in a fog. Her surroundings were blurry. Without form. Somehow she knew that there was a group of people here too. She could not recognize even their most basic of features of size and shape. There was only one clear image in this indistinct land. It was the figure within the center of the group. She recognized this figure. It was Rider. Rider looked younger. Sakura called out. There was no response. Sakura did not panic. Her emotions were muted. Dulled. Her reactions slowed. What was this place? Sakura realized she knew how Rider was feeling in this moment. She did not question it. She watched the scene for some time. Sakura turned her focus inward. Feeling the emotions she was receiving. Rider was proud. Surrounded by this group. They gave her praise. Yet. Rider was resentful. These people. They did not know her. Her whole image was a mask. Rider was not this person. The one these people thought her as. Rider was not perfect. She was not all good. She had thoughts that were different. Darker thoughts. The crowd did not realize. Rider could be dangerous. She was-_

Sakura woke up to the sound of raised voices nearby. Looking to the doorway, she could see the argument taking place between Rider-neechan and Shinji.

"-and I still don't see why you felt the need to barge into Sakura's room Shinji," Rider said.

"And I already told you. We have school today and Sakura needs to make breakfast. As the older brother, it's my job to make sure she's doing what she's supposed to," Shinji stated angrily.

"Even so, that doesn't give you the right to-"

"It's fine, Rider," Sakura interrupted, "Shinji's right, I need to get ready for school." She got out of her bed and made her way to the dresser. A triumphant smirk crossed Shinji's features.

"You heard her," Shinji crowed, "why don't you stay quiet and keep your nose out of family business like a true Servant."

"I think," Rider said menacingly, "that you need to remember that I'm not your Servant. You don't have any way to make _me_ do anything and the only reason you're not bloodied and bruised right now is Sakura here. So maybe, just maybe, you should be a bit more grateful to her for saving your worthless hide." Shinji involuntarily backed out of the room with fear in his eyes.

"Tch," he blustered, "whatever. Just make sure you have breakfast ready Sakura." After getting in the last word, Shinji quickly fled the room.

Rider turned to face her Master, seeing Sakura retie the customary ribbon back into her hair caused Rider's expression to visibly soften and a reproach to die on her lips. Instead, Rider decided on a gentler course of action.

"Why do you even have to be up so early anyway, Sakura? School is still hours away," the Servant stated exasperatedly.

"Grandfather prefers to have breakfast early. Plus this gives me the time to go to Senpai's house and help him out."

"You go to his house every morning?"

"Well, not every morning. It's just, his father passed away and he lives all alone in that big house and he sometimes forgets to sleep in his bed since he's working in his shed and…and I think he needs my help, is all."

"You really like him don't you Sakura?" Rider said, it was more of a statement than a question. Sakura began to lightly blush with a small smile on her lips, until she felt a small twinge of pain in her chest, then her face immediately shut down into an emotionless mask. She silently turned to walk out of the room. Rider though, was concerned by her worrying expression and quickly grabbed Sakura's hand to stop her from leaving. Rider turned Sakura around, seeing the blank expression still on her face caused Rider to grow even more concerned.

"Hey," Rider spoke softly, "what's wrong, Imouto?" The comforting tone of Rider's voice and the concern that Sakura could see in her eyes caused Sakura's stony visage to relax ever so slightly. She shook her head at Rider, indicating that it was nothing, and continued out of the room to prepare breakfast. Rider followed, unconvinced that Sakura was fine but unable to understand what had caused that blank mask to appear.

Shortly, the Master and Servant pair arrived in the kitchen. Shinji was nowhere to be seen, it appeared he wasn't willing to chance another conflict with Rider this soon, and Zouken was likewise missing from the area. Seeing Sakura bring out breakfast pans, Rider offered her help in the cooking. Sakura declined with a smile on her face; cooking was one of the few things that she genuinely enjoyed and she already wasn't able to do it as much as she would like, Senpai was often stubborn and insisted on performing the cooking himself.

Soon, the smell of food cooking began to permeate through the air. As the smell of breakfast spread, Shinji and finally Zouken took their seats at the dining table. Sakura served food to the two males of the house while once again declining assistance from Rider. Sakura had not prepared any food for herself; she would eat at her Senpai's house, as had become custom in the few years she knew him. The meal passed in silence; Zouken was perfectly content to eat in silence though Shinji appeared as if he would begin another tirade against Sakura, but a look from Rider quickly convinced him of the foolishness of such a notion. Sakura stood by, patiently waiting for the two to finish their meal, with Rider nearby. Shinji finished breakfast first, muttering a quick thank you to Sakura after a glance in Rider's direction, and dashed upstairs back to his room. Zouken continued to methodically work his way through his own meal. When he had finished, Zouken pushed his plate forwards and waited for Sakura to collect it. After Sakura had drawn closer, Zouken faced her and spoke for the first time that morning.

"Sakura, I have allowed you a night to reflect on your earlier disobedience. Have you reconsidered handing over your Master status to Shinji?" he asked.

"…"

"Of course she hasn't," Rider stated. "Out of all this family, Sakura is the best possible choice of a Master for me."

"Compatibility or not, Sakura does not possess the proper mindset to fight effectively in this War." Zouken refuted. "She is too soft. Unable to make the difficult choices required to win the Grail. In this regard, Shinji is clearly the preferred choice. I don't know what ideas you have in your head, Servant, but you're here to win this Grail for the Matou, not make friends with your Master."

"None of which would matter if I can't fight at my best because of a shortage of prana. With Sakura as my Master, I receive a more than adequate amount for fighting any Servant I encounter. Even you cannot deny that I would be much weaker with a non-Magus, such as Shinji, as my Master."

"The Master-Servant connection is not the sole way for a Servant to obtain power. Indeed, there are many other options available that will allow you to build up magic, as well as remove potential witnesses to the War."

Rider clenched her teeth in anger. "That may be true, but the efficiency for such a method is very low. Why are you so determined for Shinji to be my Master anyway? Do you really believe Sakura has no chance of winning this War?"

"Sakura is an extremely valuable asset to the Matou. As such, it would be the height of foolishness to risk her in conflict at her age."

"I see," Rider stated with realization in her eyes, "Shinji doesn't have any magic power so he's expendable. Is that it? In any case, it doesn't matter. Short of attempting to forcefully remove the Command Seals from Sakura, which might be the last thing you try to do, there is no way to transfer her Master status without Sakura's consent."

"Yes, so what exactly does Sakura have to say about this matter?" Zouken turned to address Sakura suddenly, "Are you going to continue with this foolish disobedience or perform your duty to the Matou, Sakura?"

Sakura looked uncomfortable with the attention shifted back upon her. She had been quietly watching in surprise as the argument broke out between her Grandfather and Servant. The purple-haired girl looked at each of them; seeing that they were staring at her and waiting for an answer, she quickly dropped her eyes to the floor. She appeared conflicted for a moment then, suddenly, her expression became determined as she made up her mind.

"I've decided. Grandfather, I'd like to remain as Rider's Master," she stated with conviction.

"I see," Zouken said, "if that is your decision, of course I have no choice but to accept it."

Sakura immediately relaxed, tension that she hadn't even noticed bleeding out of her slim frame. Zouken moved away from the table to exit the room.

"Oh," the old Magus stated from the doorframe, "don't forget about your session tonight Sakura. I hope you don't think that being a Master in this War will excuse you from your current duties to the family."

Sakura's eyes widened, then the expressionless mask once again fell across her face. "Of course not, Grandfather."

"Good, good. Well run along now child, don't want to be late for that boy of yours. Emiya? Wasn't it? And keep that Servant close, I hear there have been a lot of disappearances lately. Wouldn't want anything to happen on your way," the eldest Matou stated. Zouken disappeared from the room after that last comment, a malevolent smile upon his lips.

Upon hearing this, Sakura's eyes dulled from their usual vibrant shade. Rider watched all this in increasing worry, "Sakura-."

"Let's go, Rider," Sakura stated. She turned from the room and walked out the door without looking back. After a moment Rider followed after her, leaving the Matou house in silence. After they had walked a short way past the door, Rider turned back to look at house. The dark and eerie sense of the house contrasted sharply with the bright morning sun. This fact, combined with its unnatural silence, had caused many young children to believe it was haunted. After a moment of contemplation while staring at the Matou residence, Rider suddenly clenched her hand into a fist, turned around with a frustrated huff, and stalked forwards to catch up to Sakura. 'Soon,' she promised herself, 'Sakura will be free from that place.'

* * *

_Rin watched the scene in a daze. How long had she been here? She didn't know. She tried to look around. She couldn't. No matter how hard she tried, she could only stare forwards. Rin felt as if she should be panicking about this fact. She wasn't. Before her, there was a large group of people. Why were they here? Suddenly, her perspective changed. Rin was within the group of people now. Her mind did not deem this unusual. She could see what the people were centered around now. It was a strange rock. Something was sticking out of it but her mind glossed over this and she ignored it. Standing near the rock, was a teenager. Rin could not determine the gender. The teenager approached the rock. The crowd tensed. Some looked hopeful. Others jeered at the teenager. Ignoring them all, the teenager grabbed the something that was in the rock. Not knowing how, Rin could tell the teenager was nervous. Nervous, but filled with determination and resolve. The teenager had a strong sense of duty to these people in the crowd. After a short pause, the teenager pulled on the thing in the rock. Slowly, ever slowly, it started to rise. The crowd stared on in disbelief. Undercurrents of hope crashing through them. Finally, the thing was pulled completely from the rock. No, stone seemed better somehow. The object was pulled from the stone. The teenager held it aloft. Waiting for a reaction. The crowd did not disappoint. There was a brief pause. Then the area exploded into sound. Cheering. Laughing. Crying. The people could not hold their reactions back. Their hearts were filled with happiness. This continued for some time. The teenager standing before them with the object still held. Suddenly, Rin noticed an old man. He wasn't cheering like the rest. Instead, he looked upon the teenager with approval. As quickly as this notice came, it disappeared. Her attention returned to the teenager. The scene began to fade from view. One emotion stood out from the rest. Not because of the size of the feeling. But because it was nearly the opposite of the general feeling of happiness of the crowd. Amidst all those feelings of duty and pride within the teenager, was a tiny twinge of disappointment._

Rin awoke to the smell of food. Momentarily confused, it took her a few moments to remember the events of the previous night. She briefly considered resuming her sleep, but the pleasant aroma of breakfast in the air convinced her otherwise. After stumbling down the stairs and into the kitchen, still in her nightgown and hair unmade from her previous slumber, Rin blearily opened her eyes to take in the scene before her. Archer was standing by the stove putting what she could see to be the finishing touches on this morning's breakfast. He was still dressed in the same armor as the previous night, but with the addition of a white apron with the text 'I am the Bone of my Skillet' imprinted on the front. Her other Servant, Saber, was seated almost patiently at the table. Almost, because Rin noticed that Saber's eyes never left the contents of the cooking pan, even straining her neck when it was briefly covered by Archer's body. Normally, the ridiculousness of the scene would have caused Rin to laugh loudly or attempt to make a teasing comment as payback for the embarrassment the two Servants caused her earlier. Due to the early morning hour, however, Rin instead tiredly stared at the pair for a moment before moving into the seat next to Saber and laying her head on the table.

She remained in this position, listening to the gentle tinkling of Archer preparing plates of food, until a slightly louder thunk caused her to look up and notice the warm cup of tea in front of her. Sitting up straighter, the dark haired magus gently cradled the cup in both hands and slowly sipped on the tea. Glancing about the table, Rin almost performed her first spit-take in years. Fortunately for her dignity, the memory of her father lecturing her on etiquette rang through her mind, 'Tohsaka's must always dine with the utmost dignity and grace. Not spitting out their meal like an uncivilized buffoon'. The reason for this behavior was caused by Rin seeing the arrangement of plates at the table. While Archer had set Rin's own plate to the side of her tea and he was contently eating his own, Saber had a total of six plates placed haphazardly around her. And 2 were already picked clean! Unable to look away, Rin watched as Saber regally devoured the food in front of her. Eventually, Rin was able to tear her eyes away from the scene; she resolved to ask about it later when she wasn't as tired, or at least when Saber wasn't currently eyeing the contents of Rin's plate like a hungry predator. The Tohsaka heiress returned to her own food, marveling at Archer's obvious skill in cooking. Not normally a skill associated with Heroes, but she wasn't complaining. After finishing that great breakfast, Rin thanked Archer before returning to her room to complete her morning nuptials.

After some time, Rin met her Servants in the main living room of the large house, dressed in her Homurahara Academy uniform with her favored red jacket over it and her hair done in its usual twin tails style. "Don't think you two are off the hook just yet. I still want to know your fighting capabilities and history, but it will have to wait. I need to continue attending school in order to keep up appearances, so go into astral form and guard me invisibly. We'll start our first patrol after school and we can have that discussion while out. That reminds me. You said earlier that you two weren't able to be too far apart without difficulties?"

"That is correct Master," Saber replied, "because of our unique situation, your prana is sent to both of us collectively. The farther apart we are, the more energy it takes to split that prana into two separate parts for each of us."

"I see, what is the maximum range you can be separated before I feel the strain?"

"We do not know."

"You don't know," Rin deadpanned.

"The Grail did not see fit to inform us of the size of this limit, only that it existed. As you know, Master, each magus has differing amounts of prana capacity and output from each other. Therefore, the limit would be unique to whoever our Master was," Saber clarified.

"Hmmm, alright. Then that's the first thing we do to prepare for this War. During school, we can use the mental connection between Masters and Servants to explore the distance of this range. I'll have one of you stay near me and the other move away until I begin to feel the extra prana cost of maintaining the both of you," Rin decided. So saying, she walked out the door and towards the school, her two Servants moving into their invisible, astral state and following after her.

* * *

Sakura and Rider completed the journey to the Emiya household in companionable silence. In the same moment that the old fashioned Japanese house came into view, the two were able to sense the subtle Bounded Field that surrounded the property. It was unnoticeable to most because of the quality of its construction and the lack of many functions a typical Magus would require of their own Bounded Fields. The one around the Emiya lands had few functions, but did those extremely well and with great subtly. Unlike most, its purpose was not as a defense or even an alarm for the residents of the house. Instead, the Bounded Field masked the presence of magic within the property. In this way, Magecraft could be performed within the grounds of the Field under the notice of most all other Magi. In essence, the Bounded Field traded protections and defense for concealment and the ability to hide in plain sight.

Sakura had come over to her Senpai's house so often that one day she had eventually been able to notice the subtle Bounded Field. On that day, Sakura left for her own house early where she had proceeded to cry in the relative privacy of her room over the new knowledge that Shirou was a Magus. After she had emotionally exhausted herself, Sakura came to the conclusion that even though Shirou practiced Magecraft, he was not a Magus. He was not cold and cruel like the other Magi she had known, instead he was warm, and kind, and nice. Resolving to not let this new information change her relationship with Shirou, Sakura was able to return to the Emiya home the next day and carry on as normal. As for Rider, her increased magical ability allowed her to immediately sense the Bounded Field around the property.

Before entering the house Sakura turned to speak with Rider, who was currently in astral form as to draw less attention. "Ah, Rider," Sakura began shyly, "would you mind waiting outside? Senpai is not part of the Grail War and it would be rude to have invisible guests within his home without his knowledge."

"Oh, I see. You want to have some personal, intimate moments with Emiya-kun without me there as a third wheel. I get it. I'll guard from outside so you two can have your _privacy_," Rider said with a teasing glint in her eyes.

"W-What? S-Senpai would never- And Fujimura-sensai would be there."

"Oh? You let your teacher watch? What kind of Master did I get?" Rider bemoaned theatrically.

"N-No. That's not-," Sakura stuttered, panicked, her face becoming increasingly red.

"It's fine. I was just teasing you Sakura," Rider interrupted.

"That wasn't very nice, Rider-neechan," Sakura said after calming down a bit.

"Well maybe you just need to get used to having a sister, Imouto."

"Maybe," Sakura stated softly. She turned and walked through the doorway into her Senpai's home. Rider stayed for a short moment before smiling softly and making her way onto the nearby roof; it would make a good vantage point to set up watch at. Sakura continued into the Emiya house and, not hearing the tell-tale sounds of cooking, concluded that Shirou had not woken up yet. She walked towards his room and gently pushed open the door. Not finding him there, and with his bed undisturbed, a small frown appeared on Sakura's face as she realized that Shirou had fallen asleep in the shed out back, _again_. She walked through the back door of the house and approached the small building in the yard. Opening the door, a gentle smile made its way onto her face as she observed her Senpai peacefully sleeping on the floor of the shed with tools and mechanical parts scattered about him, his red hair contrasting with the darkness of his surroundings. She lightly placed her hand on his shoulder and softly spoke, "Senpai. It's time to wake up Senpai." Noticing him begin to stir, Sakura sat back and waited for Shirou to open his golden eyes.

"Nnnggh, good morning Sakura," Shirou tiredly stated.

"Good morning Senpai. You should get ready for school, I'll have breakfast ready by the time you're done."

"Do you want any help Sakura? I feel bad about making you do the cooking alone most mornings."

"No, I like cooking Senpai. In fact, you should let me cook dinner tonight too."

"Sorry Sakura, but that's not happening. Dinner is my time to cook. Besides, you know I enjoy it as much as you."

"See, you already get dinner all to yourself. Don't try to take over breakfast too, that's my turn."

"Alright, alright. I'll get ready for school. Is Fuji-nee here yet?"

"No, I didn't see her when I came in. Knowing her, she'll probably show up right when the foods ready."

"Yeah, that sounds like Fuji-nee alright."

Shirou and Sakura walked towards the direction of the house. Upon reaching, it they split up; Sakura towards the kitchen to begin breakfast and Shirou towards the dojo for his morning exercise.

By the time Shirou had returned to the dining area, he noticed that Sakura was almost finished with breakfast and that Fuji-nee was sitting at the table watching the news. Taiga Fujimura, or Fuji-nee as Shirou called her, had been a part of Shirou's life for years. Originally, she had watched over Shirou when his adoptive father, Kiritsugu, would leave for jobs in Europe. That all changed when Shirou had discovered his skill in cooking. Since that time, Taiga could be found at the Emiya household for every meal that Shirou, and later Sakura, cooked. When Kiritsugu had passed away Taiga was appointed as his Guardian, although with her often childish antics it was almost like he was the elder of the two at times. She didn't live at the house, but instead recognized that Shirou could take care of himself and usually just checked in a couple times a day. That these times were during meals was a complete coincidence, of course. Only Taiga's short brown hair could be seen when Shirou first entered the room as she was focused upon the news. Upon hearing him enter though, Taiga turned to greet Shirou before returning her attention to the television. Shirou sat down at the table and patiently waited for Sakura to complete the finishing touches on her cooking. Shortly, Sakura served breakfast and the three began to eat their meal in companionable silence.

"It seems to be getting dangerous out lately," Taiga stated, referring to the news story about the recent gas leaks in the city, "you two make sure to be careful ok?" Seeing their consent, Taiga quickly finished her meal. "I'm going to have to head over to the school early today. I need to finish grading some of those papers before the next classes start. The food was great as always, Sakura." So saying, she hopped onto her moped and sped away to her job as an English teacher at Homurahara Academy.

"Thanks for the food, Sakura," Shirou said after finishing his portion, "you just seem to keep getting better and better at cooking."

"It's probably because Senpai is such a good teacher," Sakura replied with a small blush.

"You were a very fast learner, and you had lots of natural talent. Don't sell yourself short Sakura."

After the two had finished their meal, they cleaned the dishes together before beginning the walk to school. Sakura sensed that Rider had invisibly joined them as the two had left the grounds of the house. Along the way, Shirou and Sakura chatted about inconsequential topics. Most people would not think such a time special, but Sakura treasured these moments. A peaceful, happy walk with her Senpai, away from the trials and pain that filled her home life. It was made even better with Rider-neechan here as well. For Sakura, this was all she needed to be happy, being surrounded by the people most important to her. In what seemed like no time at all to Sakura, the small group arrived at the school.

"I'll see you later Sakura. Have fun at archery practice," Shirou said.

"Ah, maybe you would like to stop by the dojo Senpai?" Sakura asked.

"I have to go to the student council office this morning."

"O-Oh, of course. Sorry, forget I asked. I'll see you later, ok?" Sakura made her way to the archery dojo for club practice.

'_I'll stay outside and set up watch on the rooftop, if that's ok with you Sakura?' _Rider spoke through the Master-Servant mental connection.

'_That's fine Rider,'_ Sakura replied.

After an enjoyable time at the archery club, Shinji's unwillingness to make a scene combined with his fear of Rider caused him to mostly ignore Sakura, she entered the main school building for class. As she was walking down one of the hallways, Sakura was alerted to a small pulse of magic from her concealed Command Seals. Looking around, she noticed Rin Tohsaka coming from the opposite direction. 'Of course, she must be a Master too, by now,' Sakura thought. The confidence she had gained from being allowed to continue being Rider's Master caused Sakura to not shyly ignore Rin like she normally would.

"Good morning, Tohsaka-senpai," Sakura greeted. Ignoring the startled glance from Rin, Sakura continued on towards her class, feeling secretly proud of herself.

* * *

Rin was lost in thought, speaking to her two Servants, when she felt her hidden Command Seals give off magic at the same time as she heard the words, "Good morning, Tohsaka-senpai." Startled, she looked back to find that it was Sakura who had spoken to her. She stopped, watching Sakura's back moving away from her. No matter how much she wanted to deny or refute it, the traitorous thought still remained in her mind. 'I-Is Sakura a Master too?'

'_Are you alright, Master? You went silent,'_ Saber asked her.

'_It's nothing. Keep moving out Archer, I haven't felt the extra prana drain yet,'_ Rin answered.

Soon, classes ended and the students began to leave the school for home or to their various clubs. Rin felt that the day had gone as well as could be expected. While she would have rather spent her time in preparation for the War that would be starting very soon, she had to think of her life after the War ended. So she stayed, keeping up the appearance of school idol. Fortunately, Rin's two Servants were able to find the distance they could be apart without causing too much strain on her. Their experiments showed that Saber and Archer could be about 400 meters apart from each other in any direction before Rin would feel any change in the amount of prana she was supplying to them. The difference was not very noticeable at that distance, but the prana drain increased exponentially from that point until about 800 meters when it became truly difficult for Rin to supply prana to both Servants. At that point, some of the students in Rin's class expressed concern that she looked sick because of the effort it took to channel such a large amount of prana. Using this information, it was decided that Saber and Archer should remain within the 400 meter mark barring special circumstances such as battle where they could go no farther than the 800 meter limit for Rin's safety. After that limit had been found, classes continued as normal and Rin headed to the roof after school to begin the patrol with her Servants.

"Alright, the purpose of this patrol is to find enemy Master-Servant pairs and either gather information or fight them. Since you two already know the layout of the city that saves us a lot of time which we can use to have that discussion about your abilities as Servants." Rin stated after her servants had materialized before her.

"Very well Master, if that is what you wish," Saber said. "As you could expect from my identity, I am greatly skilled with a blade. Using my swordsmanship skills and my ability Prana Burst, which allows me to send a burst of prana through my limbs or body to provide a surge of speed and power, I am able to defeat most opponents. In addition, my blade is concealed through the use of concentrated wind making it very difficult for enemies to identify my combat range," Saber finished.

"While I am also skilled in swordsmanship, though not to Saber's extent, my talents lie more with my abilities as an archer. I never miss a shot with my bow unless I deliberately choose to. Using my Tracing magic I am able to recreate any weapon that I have seen within my lifetime, though this ability is at its greatest with swords. This method also allows me to copy the skills of the previous wielders of those weapons, which is how I am able to stand against other Servants in short-range combat," Archer said.

"I've never heard of Tracing," Rin stated. "Also, you can use magic? And you didn't tell me, the Second Owner of this city?" she said angrily.

"Tracing is my own form of magic, combining Structural Grasping with Projection magic. And you found out about my magecraft before I began to develop Tracing," he placated her.

"Right, time travel. So the present you doesn't have these skills?"

"Correct, right now my present self can only use Structural Grasping and mild Reinforcement."

"Hmmm, I'll let you off the hook for now. But I'll have to have a little _chat_ with Emiya-kun after this War is over."

Elsewhere, Shirou Emiya suddenly experienced a cold shiver running down his spine while he was moving boxes at his part-time job at one of the local restaurants. The resulting spill gave the owners an excuse to make him end his shift on time for once, citing "rest" as their reason.

"That gives me a good general idea of your abilities," Rin continued, "now what about your Noble Phantasms?"

"Come now, Master. Surely, you don't want to spoil so many surprises this early?" Archer began.

"Spoil!?"

"I am in agreement with Archer on this matter," Saber said, "that is not information you need to know at this point."

"Plus, do you really want to waste a second Command Seal before the War even starts?" Archer added.

Rin looked between the two Servants for a moment. "Fine, I guess I can wait for the _surprise_. But they better be good ones, alright?"

"You are our Master, how can we be anything but the strongest Servants?" Archer teased.

"W-Well, moving on. You two won't be able to remain in astral form the entire time while we're patrolling, so we need to come up with some disguises. Saber will probably be fine, but we need something to hide Archer's features or he might be recognized as Emiya-kun, especially with that distinctive hair color," Rin said while looking at Archer.

"Leave it to me, Master, I have the perfect disguise," Saber stated proudly. "Now look away so that you can receive the full effect."

"I'm impressed, Saber. You are very prepared," Rin said while turning around.

"Of course, Master. Preparation is key on the battlefield."

After a brief moment where Rin could hear the rustling of cloth and the shifting of her Servants, she turned back around to see the disguise. Immediately her expression shifted from one of expectantly hopeful to shock. For standing before her was Archer, dressed in the exact same clothes and armor except for one glaring difference. He was wearing a bright, yellow raincoat with the hood pulled up over his regular armor.

"What kind of disguise is this!?" Rin exclaimed, "It's absurd. Now he draws even more attention. And where did you even get that raincoat from?"

"I thought it was a good disguise," Saber pouted.

"I know, I know," Archer consoled while rubbing her back. "Ours is a cruel Master indeed."

"Hey!"

"It's probably because this disguise doesn't fit in with our Master's color style. I bet she would have liked it better if it was red or black," Archer said.

"That's because red and black are much less noticeable than bright yellow! Not because of fashion."

"Of course Archer, we would not want to ruin our Master's image," Saber agreed sagely.

"Are you two even listening to me!?"

Archer removed the yellow raincoat and handed it to Saber. She took it in one hand and proceeded to move it behind her back. Not one second later her hand returned to sight, now holding a hooded black coat. Rin's rant died with her mouth remaining in an open-mouthed position as she saw this phenomenon. 'Was that her Noble Phantasm?' the ridiculous thought appeared suddenly in Rin's mind before she came to her senses.

"Is this better, Master?" Archer asked while putting on the black coat.

"You-whatever, let's just start our patrol already," Rin said. "We'll start with the downtown area, return here as a temporary base, and then finish with the business section. The Masters won't want to risk attention in the housing district, so we can probably ignore that area for now."

* * *

Rin had underestimated how boring patrolling actually was. After the initial excitement of finally beginning the Grail War had ended, she found that it was very dull. Sure the jumping around on the rooftops was fun, but that didn't hide the fact that they were just watching a whole bunch of mundane people doing mundane things. No hints of any Master activity, not even those mysterious "gas leaks" she had heard the students and teachers at school talking about. Still though, Rin refused to become discouraged. She was a Tohsaka! She was born to win this War.

Soon, the small group was passing the Fuyuki Zoo. It wasn't overly large, but still contained a variety of animals. At the moment it was closed, due to the late hour, but Rin remembered fond times at this zoo with her family before the Fourth Holy Grail War. Before her father was killed, her mother crippled, and her sister, Sakura, sent to be adopted into the Matou family.

"Hey, Archer. What's your favorite part of the zoo?" Rin asked in an attempt to alleviate some of the dullness of patrolling.

"I don't know. I've never actually been to the zoo," he replied.

"You've never been to the zoo?"

"Yeah. My old man was pretty sick and weak, so he never really had the chance to take me."

"Oh, I assume that means you haven't been either, right Saber? Saber?"

Saber was staring intently down into a portion of the zoo, too focused to hear Rin's question, before she turned to face Rin.

"Master, we are going down there," she stated in a forceful tone that brooked no arguments.

"O-Ok."

Saber jumped down from the nearby rooftop they were stationed at and made her way into the zoo, Archer followed after her while carrying Rin down from the roof. Saber resolutely walked to her destination, sparing no glance to the passing animal habitats, so focused was she on her goal. Shortly, the trio reached the area that had caught Saber's attention.

"Saber is that…?" Archer asked.

"Yes, Archer. Are they not magnificently regal?" Saber said with a hint of tears in her bright green eyes.

The enclosure before them contained a small pride of lions. One male, two females, and a small cub. Archer smiled, having known of Saber's love for this particular animal. In her time as King, Saber had once taken care of a lion cub for a short while. The happiness she had experienced in forming a bond with the cub had translated to the species as a whole. Often, Saber had wished that she had been able to stay with that cub longer. Though she had seen stuffed lions since that time, this was the first instance where she could interact with real lions again.

Quickly, Saber hopped over the fence and into the lion enclosure. Rin looked startled for a moment, but soon figured that a Servant was in no danger from any mundane animals. The lions stirred as Saber approached them without hesitation. Slowly, the leader of the small pride moved forwards to confront her. The two stopped a short distance from each other, examining each other closely. Saber kneeled down and began to stare into the lion's eyes. After a short stare-down, the lion moved its head forwards and softly rubbed its cheek against Saber's. Saber quickly gathered the lion into a hug and began to gently stroke it. After seeing the approval from the pride leader, the two females and the cub also moved to join in. In its excitement, the small cub jumped onto Saber. She allowed herself to be pulled down by the cub's weight and began to happily pet it while it was resting on her stomach. Soon, Saber was surrounded by the lion pride on all sides. She gave off a loud, happy laugh as each of the four lions attempted to convince her to pet them.

"Shirou! Rin! Come on, join me!" Saber exclaimed excitedly.

The two made their way into the lion pit and began to near Saber and the lion pride. The pride leader glanced up and began to cautiously watch the pair as they approached until Saber forced the lion's attention back onto herself and stared into the leader's eyes once more. After another moment between woman and animal, the lion dipped its head in deference to Saber. Archer headed to one of the two female lions and began to softly stroke its head. After a short time, he leaned onto the body of the lion and began to pet it fully. Rin approached the other female much more hesitantly, even a Magus had reason to fear these large predators without the proper precautions. She would have rather pet the cub, but it was still firmly enamored with Saber. She stopped a short distance away from the lion and seemed unwilling to move closer, until Saber noticed and gently guided her over to the female lion. Sitting behind Rin, Saber placed her hand over Rin's and guided it onto the lion's flank. She moved Rin's hand slowly over the fur of the lion until Rin began to take over. Stepping away, Saber saw that Rin was entranced by lion and had not seemed to notice that Saber had even left. Smiling, the blonde haired, former King returned to the male lion and small cub.

After spending a relaxing hour with the lions, the trio decided it was time to return to their patrol. During their time there, each had decided they wanted to name the lions. Saber named the male Cadwaladyr in honor of his position as pride leader and the cub Linus for his playfulness. Archer decided to name the lion he spent time with Rika for her regal poise, while Rin called the other Mai representing the lion's elegance.

"We must do this again sometime, Archer," Saber said.

"I agree. We may not find time again during the War, but definitely after that," Archer replied.

Since they had not found any evidence of enemy Servants in the downtown area thus far, they began moving back towards the school before they would continue onto the business district. Knowing that it would be difficult finding Servant activity in a particular spot, the group had resolved to patrol many different sections of Fuyuki City as often as possible. Along the way to the school, they discussed their plan for their future patrol.

"Since we'll be patrolling the business distract that means there will be many large buildings in the area. We should use the higher vantage point that the roofs of those buildings would afford us to scan for any evidence of Servant activity from a distance," Rin stated.

"It is a good plan, Master," Saber agreed.

"True, with my Archer's eyes I will be able to see any evidence, no matter how high we are," Archer added.

"I'm going to gather the supplies that I left in my bag on the school roof. We can begin the patrol after that," Rin said.

Archer dropped her off on the school roof while Saber set up guard on the grounds. Rin sent Archer to also watch the grounds of the school, saying it would be more efficient to guard the area than to guard just her. Gathering her additional supplies would not take long so they would be able to continue their patrol shortly. Rin had just finished collecting her supplies and was about to mentally call out to her Servants to return, when she heard a voice behind her that made her blood freeze in fear.

"Well, well. Isn't it a bit late for you to be out, little Master?"

* * *

**This chapter came out a little later than I was expecting. Hopefully, as I continue writing I'll eventually develop a better schedule. Next chapter will contain the first fights of this story so I'll probably be spending a big chunk of time just coordinating that, but I should still be able to post it relatively soon. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Another huge thanks to Shrapnel893 for beta reading this chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fate Stay/Night**

* * *

"Well, well. Isn't it a bit late for you to be out, little Master?"

With a gasp of surprise, Rin spun around after hearing the words spoken from behind her. It was the evening, so there shouldn't have been anyone else at the school at this time. That someone was and recognized her as a Master meant that the voice must belong to another Master or, worse, a Servant. Rin looked at the man that was crouching on top of the entrance to the school. He was dressed in blue, skin-tight armor with silver highlights. His hair was also blue with the back end pulled into a ponytail. In contrast, his eyes were a deep red and his weapon was a 2 meter long crimson spear that he had lazily resting upon his back.

'_Archer, Saber, I need some help,'_ Rin called out mentally to her two Servants.

'_Understood, we will be there shortly,'_ Saber replied.

Keeping part of her attention on the Servant in front of her, Rin glanced around the area of the school roof. She stood near the center of the roof with the entrance to the school in front of her. The roof was not large and did not offer very much room to maneuver; a tall fence surrounded it as a safety for students.

Rin knew she had almost no chance against any Servant, especially when she didn't know their capabilities. Sure she had her most powerful gems, each having the equivalent of an A-rank spell, but even those might not be effective and then she would have lost much of her combat potential in this War. For this reason, she knew she had to get off the close quarters of this roof where a weapon based Servant would have a huge advantage over her.

"Oh?" Lancer said noticing Rin's assessment of her surroundings, "I thought you were ignorant, but it seems you do have the gist of things."

Rin quickly spun around and ran towards the fence facing the school courtyard. Almost immediately the Servant was upon her, slashing with his spear. Luckily for her, the Servant didn't appear to be moving at his full speed as Rin was able to use the battle instinct she had developed through a combination of martial arts and magecraft to divine the attacks coming at her.

Rin sidestepped the first downward strike then had to instantly perform a jumping dive to avoid the low swing that would have amputated her legs. Rolling out of the dive, Rin judged the remaining distance to the fence. Deeming herself close enough, she strengthened her legs with Reinforcement to put on a sudden burst of speed that allowed her to barely escape a final thrust from the spear. Still using her Reinforced legs, Rin leapt over the 4 meter fence.

"Archer, handle the landing," Rin called out to her Servant both mentally and vocally.

Rin spread out her limbs in preparation of being caught by her Servant. She was unprepared, however, for her body being gently moved into an upright position. Even more confusingly, she felt a pressure underneath her legs, like she was sitting on a bar. Looking down, she saw Archer, her Servant to fight in a war for the Holy Grail, giving her a piggyback ride while his arms were spread out and making airplane noises.

"Arch-!" Rin began before a bright flash of light interrupted her.

In front of Rin and Archer, falling at the same speed they were, was Saber holding a camera and taking pictures. Upon seeing Rin notice her, Saber held out one hand in a thumbs-up position while keeping her face perfectly stoic.

"Saber too?" Rin bemoaned.

Giving up, Rin allowed herself to be gently piggybacked to an out of the way spot. Just before reaching the ground, she saw Saber rush past her and heard the sharp clang of metal striking metal. She looked around Archer and saw that Saber was blocking the crimson spear from piercing her.

"I came here for a fight, not to watch you play with your Master," the enemy Servant said after stepping back from his clash with Saber.

"He's right, show me what you two can do against Lancer, you'll get no help from me right now." Rin commanded.

"What makes you think I'm a Lancer?" the enemy Servant asked while spinning his spear around like a flag twirler.

"Well, obvi-"

"Wait, Master. He's right," Archer interrupted. "Maybe he's a Caster, or with that face like a mad dog's, he could be a Berseker."

"…you're Master was right; but just for that, I'll kill you first," the newly identified Lancer growled.

"Sorry to disappoint you, Lancer. But your fight is with the both of us," Saber said.

"Fine by me," Lancer said with a feral grin.

Rin watched as the three Servants readied themselves for battle. After a tense moment of silence, they all sprang into action at once. Saber and Lancer began clashing sword and spear in the center of the courtyard, their movements so fast that Rin could not keep up with her eyes. The two Servants would blur in and out of focus as they moved and struck at one another. The sound of their weapons clanging together grew into a loud, cacophonous mess as the two tried to attack through the other's guard. Off to one side Archer fired arrows into the midst of the other two Servants, though they seemed to have no effect from what Rin could tell.

The battle continued for some time, with neither side gaining any advantage that Rin could see, when Lancer suddenly sprang back from Saber and began gathering prana into his spear. She could see a red haze grow over his spear from the huge amounts of prana in it.

'That must be his Noble Phantasm,' Rin thought, 'if he fires it…'

"Who's there?" Lancer said. Suddenly, the prana in his spear dissipated as he looked towards a point outside the courtyard and near the entrance to the school.

Rin followed Lancer's gaze and saw a figure run into the school. "A student?" Rin asked as she ran closer to Saber and Archer's position, "Someone was still in the school building?"

"It would appear so, Master," Saber replied.

"Wait, where did Lancer go?" Rin said as she looked back to Lancer only to see that he had disappeared.

"He followed after that person," Archer responded, "probably to eliminate a witness of the War."

Rin gave off a small gasp. "Saber, Archer, follow them! I'll catch up."

Rin began to sprint towards the entrance of the school. 'Damn it, that was so stupid,' she thought. 'Eliminating witnesses is one of the major rules for magi. I always hated that rule, so I've been extra careful.' Rin burst through the doors of the school and, after making a split second decision, ran up the stairs to the second floor.

* * *

'_Archer, Saber, I need some help.'_

Immediately, Archer dashed back to Rin's position. He was confident that she could survive long enough against any Servant until he and Saber could get to her. Along the way he met up with Saber and they both continued towards Rin.

Archer and Saber reached Rin just in time to see her leap off the school roof in complete trust of their abilities. He and Saber just couldn't resist messing with Rin a bit more. For years, Rin had been teasing them and now this War was the perfect chance for them to get a little payback on her younger self. And collect the evidence to show their Rin later, of course.

Archer moved to catch Rin in the midst of her fall. Placing her in the traditional piggy-back position, he solemnly spread his arms and made airplane sounds. Saber leapt in front of Archer and Rin, reached behind her back, and pulled out a camera. After taking a few pictures, Saber saw that Lancer was moving to strike Rin and Archer from behind. She quickly dashed in front of Lancer and brought up her invisible sword to block his strike.

"I came here for a fight, not to watch you play with your Master," Lancer said after stepping back from Saber.

"He's right, show me what you two can do against Lancer, you'll get no help from me right now." Rin commanded.

"What makes you think I'm a Lancer?" Lancer asked while he spun his spear around mockingly.

"Well, obvi-"

"Wait, Master. He's right," Archer interrupted, unable to resist the opportunity. "Maybe he's a Caster, or with that face like a mad dog's, he could be a Berseker."

"…you're Master was right; but just for that, I'll kill you first," Lancer growled.

"Sorry to disappoint you, Lancer. But your fight is with the both of us," Saber interjected.

"Fine by me," Lancer said with a feral grin.

Saber stayed in front of Archer and readied her invisible sword while he Traced a large bow; across from them, Lancer gripped his spear with both hands. The three Servants waited, tensed, for the invisible sign that the battle would begin. After a moment of calm, Lancer sprang into action and quickly closed the distance between himself and Saber. He performed a powerful thrust with the strength of his charge behind it, only for Saber to neatly sidestep, putting her invisible blade in between her and the spear and attempting to make Lancer overextend his strike.

During their short clash, Archer shot off three arrows in quick succession. With perfect aim and the knowledge of his partner that allowed him to know what she would do, he shot the arrows into the space that Saber had already sidestepped out of by the time the arrows had reached her position. Unfortunately for Lancer, this meant that the arrows were now about to hit him and his weapon was currently being pushed away by Saber.

Using the amazing speed that his Servant class was known for, Lancer switched his grip on his spear and quickly swung it around the opposite direction while backing up so that the shaft of the weapon would deflect the arrows away from himself. With dull thuds the three arrows were deflected around Lancer's body and into the ground. Backing up fully, Lancer reassessed the threat level of the two Servants before him. He would not have expected two different Servants to be able to work so well together, especially before the last Servant had even been summoned.

"That's a lot of trust you two are showing in each other, not even a hint of hesitance or threat of backstabbing? Certainly odd for a temporary alliance between opposing sides in this War." Lancer remarked suspiciously.

Archer and Saber remained silent and remained in their battle ready positions.

"Oh well, more fun for me."

With that, Lancer was once again upon Saber. He made a quick succession of spear thrusts in an attempt to break through Saber's guard. She blocked each thrust and searched for a way to counter using one of the many holes in defense such a technique caused. Due to his abnormally high speed stat and her own reductions, however, she was unable to capitalize as Lancer was able to pull his spear back and thrust again every time before she could make a decisive strike. During this, Archer had shifted so that his arrows were no longer aimed from behind Saber's back and he had fired multiple times in an attempt to break Lancer's momentum. Shockingly, the shaft of Lancer's weapon was able to catch the arrows each time he pulled back for a strike.

Archer frowned and then shot two near simultaneous arrows with a soft thwift, the first headed for Lancer's leg and the latter towards his head. Miraculously, Lancer performed a forward twirl with his spear that deflected both bolts away, without even looking at the arrows. Though Lancer was not injured by the strike, it accomplished Archer's intentions anyway. For even though he had successfully deflected both arrows, Lancer's momentum was broken, giving Saber a large enough gap to launch her own offensive.

Saber immediately began her attack, striking at Lancer with powerful slashes, the large blows making large clangs as her invisible sword collided with Lancer's spear. With dual attacks from Saber's sword and Archer's arrows at once, Lancer was slowly forced back while blocking. What would already be impossible for a normal human was made even more difficult when taking into account Saber's invisible blade. Without being able to see or know the length of her sword, Lancer was forced to block every strike instead of dodging so that he wouldn't be caught by a miscalculation of her reach.

Seeing that he was being pushed back, Lancer switched tactics. Spreading his grip along the lance, he began using the advantages of his weapon length over swords and began wielding his spear as it was meant to be. Contrary to popular opinion, the strength of a spear did not lie in its thrusts. Rather, the real danger to lances was in the ability to use the angular momentum of wide swings to increase the power of their slashes or strikes by the shaft. Using continuous, large spins, Lancer was able to quickly and powerfully clash with Saber's strikes and still block all of Archer's arrows from reaching him.

Lancer spun his weapon into a powerful strike onto Saber's left side. Using Prana Burst to strengthen her swing, Saber blocked the strike with a mighty force and attempted to knock the spear out of position. Instead of attempting to push against Saber's larger power, Lancer used the force of Saber's blow like a springboard to quickly strike with the opposite side of his spear at her right side. Saber's battle instinct was enough that she was able to deduce the action though and she quickly shifted her sword to block the hit.

As the two clashed, Archer continued to launch arrow after arrow at Lancer in an unpredictable timing. However, not a single one was able to hit him. Somehow, he was able to block or deflect every single shot fired at him, all without even looking at the arrows or Archer's position. Seeing that his direct attacks were having almost no effect on the battle, Archer began to instead launch his arrows at more indirect targets. Shooting at Lancer's limbs caused him to have to shift his positioning each time and block the awkwardly placed shots in ways that prevented him from striking at Saber with his full force.

Using their experience in fighting with each other, Archer launched a small flurry of arrows at Lancer's legs in such a way that they would reach him in the same moment that the powerful overhead strike Saber had just initiated would also connect. Lancer raised his spear to block Saber's blow, but he was forced to dodge the arrows coming at his legs which caused his footing to be unstable. For a moment, Saber stared at Lancer as she tightened her grip on her invisible blade to put her full strength into the blow and used Prana Burst for a final surge of strength. Lancer nearly crumpled under the pressure but was able stay up. After the initial strike, he shifted the angle of his spear so that Saber's blade would slide off and quickly dashed away to put distance between himself and Saber.

"That strange teamwork truly is fearsome, if I was anyone else I might have already been defeated," Lancer said. "Unfortunately for you, my Protection from Arrows negates many of the threat from you, Archer. With it I can evade any manner of ranged attack, even those I wouldn't normally be able to see I can evade by listening to the sound of the cutting air."

"Hmmph even so, you too have been unable to land a single hit," Archer stated.

"Yes, your Saber is truly skilled. But can you handle my mightiest blow?" Lancer asked rhetorically.

Lancer changed into a different stance, shifting his footing and gripping his spear in preparation of a thrust or throw. Saber readied her defenses as a truly massive amount of prana began to gather into Lancer's spear. The concentrated prana caused a red haze to form over the shape of the crimson lance.

Archer glanced at Saber worriedly, he knew she had survived Lancer's Noble Phantasm before, but now her luck stat was reduced because of their unique position as the Paired Servant. Archer was about to move towards Saber and add his defense to her own, when Lancer was distracted by the appearance of a witness to the War.

"A student?" Rin asked as she ran closer to Saber and Archer's position, "Someone was still in the school building?"

"It would appear so, Master," Saber replied.

"Wait, where did Lancer go?" Rin said.

"He followed after that person," Archer responded vaguely, "probably to eliminate a witness of the War."

Rin gave off a small gasp. "Saber, Archer, follow them! I'll catch up."

Saber and Archer quickly followed after Lancer, they caught up to him just in time to witness him stab his spear directly through the heart of the student from before, someone who Archer recognized as his younger self, Shirou Emiya. Archer attempted to chase down Lancer in the narrow school hallway, but Lancer quickly disappeared from his senses and he returned to Saber.

Saber had kneeled down next to the body of Shirou. Her presence should have been enough to activate the greater healing powers of her sheath, Avalon, which had been implanted into Shirou's body during the Fuyuki Fire by his adopted father, Kiritsugu. For some reason though, Avalon's miraculous healing did not activate fully within Shirou. Instead of healing his wounds, Shirou's dying moments were only prolonged by a few minutes.

Knowing there was nothing more they could do as they did not possess any other form of healing magic, the duo returned to spirit form and waited for their Master to arrive on the scene.

* * *

Shirou Emiya was not having a good day. He had been sent home from his part time job earlier than normal because the owners were worried about him after he dropped some boxes, even though he thought that he felt perfectly fine. With this new found extra time, Shirou decided to return to his school and continue fixing the school heaters that his friend and class president, Issei Ryuudou, had asked him to look at.

Shirou spent a few hours at his self-assigned task and managed to fix a large amount of the heaters since he didn't have to hide his magecraft with no one around. He was leaving the school, already forming an apology to Fuji-nee and Sakura about being out late, when he heard the sound of clashing metal coming from the school courtyard. Moving to investigate, after all someone could be in trouble, he exited the school building and headed towards the courtyard.

After seeing the scene before him, Shirou decided he was right; someone was in trouble, and it was probably him. Within the courtyard, two figures in blue were clashing at speeds he could barely follow with his eyes. Although he was far away and couldn't see them well, Shirou could make out a tall male wearing blue skintight armor and wielding a large crimson spear. The other was a smaller, female figure wearing blue and silver armor and holding nothing? No that wasn't right, the male's spear was definitely clashing with something and the smaller fighter was moving as if holding a weapon. A short distance away, Shirou could see a tall figure in a black, hooded coat with a red cape like thing flaring out beneath the coat. The hooded figure was holding a bow and shooting arrows at the spear wielder.

Shirou watched the combatants for a short while in surprise and shock at the scene before him that appeared to come straight out of some story. The fighters' weapons clashed again and again, the sound of metal striking metal so loud that Shirou felt as if he was in the midst of the battle. After some time fighting, the spear wielder sprang back from the small fighter he was clashing with. The battle paused for a bit as the fighters seemed to talk, though Shirou was too far away to hear any of the conversation. Quickly, the spear wielder moved into a stance and began to hold his spear at a downward angle while facing his back to the others.

As Shirou watched, a strange red haze began to emanate from the lance. Suddenly, he could feel a potent sense of bloodlust coming from it. In an involuntary action from the concentrated bloodlust he was feeling, Shirou took a small, shuffled step back from battle area in his body's instinctive attempt to escape from the danger it sensed. Unfortunately for him, this action only drew the attention of the spear wielder. With a gasp, Shirou turned and ran back into the school, all the while hoping that he was only imagining the feeling of the spear user getting closer.

Running up the stairs to the second floor and down a hallway, Shirou turned to look behind him and see if the spear user was actually following after him. Seeing nothing, Shirou relaxed as he slowed down and began to face forward, trying to catch his breath. Suddenly, as Shirou had tuned completely back around, his momentum was halted with a sharp pain in his chest. Looking down, he saw nothing until a long crimson spear began to materialize out of thin air right where his heart was.

Looking up, he saw the face of the spear user from before. The spear wielder pulled his weapon free from Shirou's chest with a small flourish, flinging aside the blood on the tip of his spear, and only then did Shirou realize that the spear had gone straight through his heart as he could feel pain from his chest to his back. Falling to his knees, Shirou clutched at his chest as breathing suddenly became more difficult.

Shirou gasped, trying to find the breath that just wouldn't come. He could feel the warmth of his own blood on his hands as it gushed out from the large hole in his chest. There was a coppery taste in his mouth as he coughed up even more of his life blood. His ears began to ring loudly as his mind almost couldn't comprehend what was happening. 'Well,' he thought deliriously, 'I'll die before losing most of my blood with no heart to pump it out of my body.' All these thoughts and sensations rushed through his mind at once as he stared up into the red eyes of his killer.

"Bah, don't look at me like that kid. Though it's not very Heroic, I can't leave any witnesses around. So if anything, curse your rotten luck that you would be in this place, at this time, and meet me," the spear user said, "I made sure to pierce right through your heart, so you can at least have the knowledge that your death was quick."

With those words, the spear user disappeared from view. Shirou fell completely to the ground, still clutching his chest and trying to breathe in air that would not come. His mind grew hazy and he began to waver in and out of consciousness during his final moments. His senses began to shut down until only his hearing remained, though even that faded in and out unreliably. He heard footsteps quickly approaching then a voice began speaking quietly, he could only hear parts of the words before he fell completely comatose.

"…you! Why did…be here….How…face her…"

* * *

**I was not expecting it to take this long for only 4k words. I actually basically split what I was originally planning this chapter to be into like 3 parts so hopefully the next few updates will be much faster. **

**What did you guys think of the fight between Lancer, Saber, and Archer? It was the first fight scene I've written so I'd really appreciate some feedback on if you like that style or suggestions for changes. **

**Shrapnel has actually suggested that I get another beta tester for another perspective on the direction of the story. So...any takers? If nothing else you'd get to read the rough drafts to each chapter before I post them. Pm me if there is any interest. **

**Till next time.**


	4. Chapter 4

**I received no response on the way I showed the fight scenes. I'm taking the no response as approval. So that means I'm keeping it how I've been doing. **

**I don't own Type-Moon.**

* * *

Running up the stairs, Rin burst into a hallway on the second floor of the main school building. A heavy, oppressive silence filled the air and Rin could feel her heart instantly drop in her chest. There were no sounds of a struggle, it was already over. In the center of the hallway, she could see a male figure on the ground. He was sprawled face down on the floor, a pool of blood slowly spreading underneath him. Knowing she was too late, Rin stopped running and began reluctantly walking towards the body. As she was walking, her two Servants materialized beside her.

"Master, regretfully Lancer has disappeared. We were unable to reach him in time," Archer stated.

"Can you at least follow him back to his Master?" Rin asked.

"No, his speed is too great for us. He had already vanished before we even arrived."

Rin sighed, "This day is turning out to be a complete waste."

"I'm sorry I couldn't do more for you," Rin addressed the body as she knelt down beside it. She was the Second Owner of this city, the overseer of all supernatural activity in Fuyuki. It was her job to safeguard the secret that was the existence of magic in her city and keep its citizens safe from the magical world. She had failed to protect this student, he was right in front of her and she couldn't save him.

Surprisingly, the student wasn't dead yet. She could see his shoulders rise and fall slightly with each faint breath he took. But, it didn't change anything. She had no talent for healing so he was going to die anyway. She placed a comforting hand on his back.

"I'll stay with you until your time comes."

With a heavy heart, Rin turned the body over so she could see the face of the life she had failed. Upon seeing his identity, however, she gave off a shocked, pained gasp.

"No, not you! Why did you have to be here, at this time? How can I possibly face her after this?" she said sadly as she discovered the identity of the body to be that of Shirou Emiya. The most helpful student in the school, so much so that he had been given the nickname of Fake Janitor. One of the few people in this school she liked, even if she didn't know him all that well. And her sister Sakura's friend, someone who caused her sister's eyes to show genuine happiness when little else did.

Rin shakily put her hands to her face, staring down at the body from between her fingers. Reaching into her pocket, Rin took out a red, triangular gem attached to a necklace chain. A bitter war waged through her mind as she stared into the pendant.

Could she try it? Gamble the power of her greatest weapon on something she wasn't even sure would work? Biting her lip in indecision, Rin glanced down at the dying face of Shirou below her. She thought of how her sister would react when Rin told her she was unable to save him. Would she cry and rage against the world? Or, would she revert to that emotionless mask with the dead eyes that Rin had occasionally seen in her expression? No, even though she had been adopted by the Matou and their families had dictated they could no longer interact, Rin still wished for Sakura to be happy.

Her mind made up, Rin held the gem and placed her hands over Shirou's chest wound. Normally, it would require extensive knowledge of the human body and healing magic to completely replace a person's heart as she was now trying to do. However, it could be done by someone with little of that knowledge if they had a large enough prana source, such as the truly massive amount stored within Rin's pendant. Using the Tohsaka Jewel magic, Rin shaped the prana from within the pendant with the intent of completely replacing Shirou's heart.

She had little knowledge of the inner workings of a human heart. Her family dealt primarily with gemstones so she had never needed to dissect and use body parts as some other families did. She vaguely knew what it looked like and what it did, but not how. She was gambling on her intent and the power within the jewel to basically work around the mechanics of what she wanted to accomplish. 'Like a bastardized version of the Einzbern Wish Magic', she thought gloomily.

Rin grimaced, a bead of sweat rolling down her forehead as the strain of channeling enough power to bypass the prerequisite knowledge took its toll on her. She could feel the mental image of what she wanted to accomplish wavering in her head. She tried to force more prana into the image and continue the spell, but she could sense that it wasn't working.

All she was succeeding in accomplishing was the creation of a fragile shell. She could make the form of a heart and try to implant properties into it that would act as a real heart. But the form wouldn't hold. Even with the power of her greatest jewel at her disposal, it wasn't enough to completely counteract her lack of knowledge. She needed instructions or a blueprint of some kind that her spell could follow to create the heart. She was like a blacksmith trying to make a sword based only on its outer appearance; she wouldn't know the metals used, or any details whatsoever.

As if the knowledge was there all along, her mind realized a solution to her problem. She had a heart didn't she? Couldn't she use her heart as a template and use her spell to perfectly replicate it into Shirou's body? She knew that normal people had heart transplants and were mostly fine, so there shouldn't be anything wrong with Shirou having a copy of her heart instead of his own.

Wasting no time, Rin directed a portion of the power within the jewel to scan her heart completely. She would have to hope that the scan was correct since there was no way for her to check it. Dismissing her previous mental image of the heart she wanted to create, she replaced it with the scan of her heart.

She now focused her intent on accurately replicating the scan within Shirou. Already, she could feel a difference in the spell. Where before she had to force prana into her image just to keep it from shattering under the strain, now the prana was easily flowing and filling up the scan. No longer having to focus so completely upon the spell, Rin opened the eyes she didn't remember closing to watch the magecraft complete with more than just her magical senses.

In awe, Rin watched this event that she would most likely never be witness to again as she continued to shape prana from the jewel into the spell. Deep within Shirou's chest a bright red light began to glow. Through the large hole in his chest, she could see his destroyed heart. A covering of red gemstone the exact same as the jewel in her hand began to slowly cover his entire heart. As the covering of gemstone spread from the bottom of his heart, the light from within Shirou's chest increased in intensity.

Shortly, the entire heart had been covered. The light was nearly blinding now, but somehow Rin had no trouble as she continued to watch the process. She could only stare in shock as the rough gemstones over Shirou's heart fused and formed into a larger version of the jewel pendant she was using to heal him.

Suddenly, Rin become aware of her own heartbeat as it seemed to pound louder and louder within her chest. There was no pain, just an increased, intimate sensation of her heart pumping blood through her body with every beat. Just as the feeling within her heart reached a crescendo, Rin's eyes widened as she saw the large jewel within Shirou's chest beat once.

She waited in anticipation, blood pounding in her ears, trying to see if it was just her imagination. It beat again, a bit larger this time. Then again, the beats coming faster now. Slowly the beats of the gem sped up, approaching the speed of a real, human heart. As the rhythm of the gem grew ever more consistent, Rin realized that it was her heartbeat. The gem was beating at the same tempo as her own heart.

After a short while, the tempo of the gem stopped increasing. It was perfectly in sync with her own heart. It was like the gem was taking direction from her heart on what to do and copying it perfectly. The dull thud continued pounding in her chest as she watched, certain that the spell wasn't finished yet.

Suddenly, the gem within Shirou's chest shattered in a brilliant display of light. Instead of turning into shrapnel, the shards of gem became red glowing motes of prana that rose out of his wound and into the air around Rin. Revealed behind the gem was a human heart. A copy of Rin's, which was now Shirou's heart.

Rin continued to stare in amazement at the scene. She could feel the unnatural sensation of her heartbeat begin to fade. As it did, the heart within Shirou began to beat at its own tempo. No longer taking direction from Rin's heartbeat, it had truly become Shirou's real heart. Disappointed, but not knowing why, Rin watched as the muscle and skin over his heart began to stitch itself back together. Soon, the only thing that remained of the mortal wound was a large starburst scar directly over his heart.

Rin collapsed backwards in giddy relief and slight exhaustion. She had done it. It took nearly every speck of prana contained within the pendant, but Shirou's heart had been replaced and he would live. Composing herself, she stood up and dropped the now worthless, to her, pendant on the ground next to Shirou and began walking away.

"That was an amazingly honorable deed, Master," Saber stated as Rin approached.

"How could I have faced Sakura again without trying to save her friend?" Rin asked rhetorically. "That was my ace in the hole though. That pendant had been with my family for generations, collecting untold amounts of prana. It was my best jewel and without it my combat potential is much lower."

"That fact just proves yourself even more. Rin, you are a truly good person," Archer said with a smile on his face.

"Thanks," Rin said with a hint of red on her cheeks, "was this something that happened in your time as well?"

"Yes," he said while pulling out his version of the pendant that Rin had just used to save Shirou, "I've kept this with me ever since. It is one of my most treasured possessions."

"W-Well, it better be! It was one of a kind," she said blushing, "come on, Saber, Archer, let's go back home, I'm feeling a little tired."

"As you wish, Master."

* * *

Shirou woke up very confused. The last thing he remembered was dying from a minor case of heart stabbing, but that clearly wasn't the case now. Getting into a kneeling position, Shirou felt his chest where there should have been a wound but now he felt no pain. He could have almost believed it was a dream or something except he still had the bloodstain on his clothes where he had been stabbed.

Deciding to make a more thorough inspection later, Shirou focused on getting home as quickly as he could. Before leaving, he noticed a red pendant on the ground next to where his body was. Feeling it was important, he put it in his pocket in the hopes that it would help him find answers about what happened. He quickly exited the school building and began to hurry home.

As Shirou was running home, he couldn't shake the paranoia that whatever had tried to kill him would make another attempt. Along the way he met a young, white haired girl that seemed like she wanted to talk to him. Unfortunately he couldn't stay and see what she wanted. He had to get back home where he would be safer, and he didn't want anyone near him in case someone tried to kill him again. He could feel her staring intently at his back as he continued on past her. He did feel bad for leaving the girl alone though.

Shirou ran up the path to his house. The large, old-style Japanese home easy to identify among its neighbors. Bursting through the door to his house, Shirou stumbled into the living room and collapsed on the ground.

"Hey Shir-Shirou! What happened?!" Taiga exclaimed as she saw Shirou fall to the floor.

"Fuji-nee?" Shirou said.

"Shirou, where did this blood come from? Are you hurt?!"

Shirou opened up his shirt to look at his chest. Directly over his heart was a large starburst shaped scar. He gently felt the rough portions of the scar while trying to think of how he could have possibly survived. Upon seeing the scar, Taiga gasped and rushed to Shirou's side.

"Fuji-nee, where is Sakura?" Shirou asked as he interrupted Taiga's panicked fretting.

"Sakura?" Taiga asked confused, "I sent her home escorted by a few of my men when it got late out."

"I wish you had been the one to take her, Fuji-nee."

"She'll be fine, if my grandfather can trust them with my safety then I can trust those guys to safely escort her home. And if I did, who would be here to help you out of whatever mess you've gotten yourself into this time. More importantly, what happened today Shirou? Where did the blood and scar come from?"

Shirou grimaced from his position on the ground, he had a feeling that what had happened to him had been magical in nature and that meant that he couldn't risk telling Taiga about it. He paused when he heard the faint ringing of the small bells that had been scattered throughout the rafters of the house by his adopted father Kiritsugu before he passed away. Shirou quickly threw himself at Taiga and tackled her away just as the same spear wielder from before came falling from the ceiling and stabbed his spear into the ground where Shirou had just been.

"You know, I tried to make it a quick death. Right through the heart and everything. So imagine how it feels when _someone _decides that's not good enough for them and doesn't stay dead. It hurts, it really hurts," the figure stated.

"Shirou, I'm not sure I heard that correctly. But did he just say that he tried to kill you!?" Taiga exclaimed.

"That doesn't matter, we have to get out of here now," Shirou said.

Shirou grabbed Taiga's hand and forcefully pulled her from the room as the spear user watched, amused. If it was just him alone, he probably would have stayed and tried to fight the spear wielder off. But, with Taiga here, he had to get her to safety first. He continued to pull her down a hallway while ignoring her panicked words as he was listening for any hint of a pursuit.

Suddenly, Shirou's grip on Taiga's hand was forcefully ripped away as he was sent flying into the house dojo. Taiga looked to the spot where Shirou was, only to see the guy who said he tried to kill Shirou there with his foot extended.

"Don't worry just yet, I've got to kill that boy first. His survival earlier reflects badly on me, so I need to make he stays down this time. You don't mind do you?" Without waiting for a response, the spear wielder sauntered into the dojo where he had just kicked Shirou, Taiga following at a cautious distance.

Shirou groaned from his position on the floor, that kick had knocked the wind out of his body and he couldn't get back up until he had caught his breath again. Gasping for air, he looked to the entrance of the dojo to see the spear user slowly enter the room like he was a predator and Shirou the prey.

"Well, I'd say it's been fun kid. But that was probably just me. Don't make this worse on yourself and just stay dead this time."

Shirou watched as the spear user raised his weapon in preparation of a strike, if only he had something he could Reinforce. But as it was, he didn't stand a chance. Preparing his body for one last ditch effort at a dodge and some kind of counterattack, Shirou was surprised and dismayed when Taiga placed herself between him and his attacker.

"I don't know what's going on, but don't think I'm just going to stand back while you hurt Shirou," Taiga said defiantly while brandishing a wooden practice sword she had taken from the dojo.

"If you want to put up a fight, by all means do so. More fun for me," the spear wielder stated menacingly.

Taiga got into a kendo stance as she waited for the start of the most dangerous match of her life. From what she had seen of this spear user, he would be the first to make a strike. Even though she was waiting for the strike, Taiga was unprepared for the speed at which the attack came. Barely bringing her wooden sword up, she deflected the thrust to the side of her body and stepped back in defense of a slash from the longer reach of his weapon.

Looking at her weapon, Shirou could see the multitude of cracks in the wood just from that one exchange. These wooden swords just weren't meant to clash against real weapons. Shirou grimaced as he realized that she could only deflect at most one more strike before her weapon broke.

The enemy performed another thrust at Taiga's heart, she raised her weapon in defense. The crack of snapping wood was heard as splinters flew through the air when the wooden sword shattered against the killer's spear. Her last effort was not in vain, however, as his spear was deflected away from her body.

"Fuji-nee!" Shirou shouted as he came up to her holding two more wooden swords, one of which was Taiga's personal sword, Tora-shinai. "I Reinforced these so they should stand up to more strikes from that spear."

Taiga accepted Tora-shinai without comment on whatever he did, she had more important things to worry about, and if Shirou said these would be stronger she had to trust him.

"Ready to put your kendo lessons to the test, Shriou?" Taiga asked without moving her attention from the enemy in front of her.

Nodding his assent, the two stood side by side and prepared to defend each other from the spear user.

"Are you all ready now?" the spear wielder asked with a bloodthirsty grin, "Maybe I will get a good fight out of this."

Shirou and Taiga waited as the spear user once again made the first strike. With some time to start getting used to the spear wielder's speed, Shirou was able to parry the thrust to his heart over to his right side. On his left, Taiga moved in for a slash while Shirou held the spear back. Unfortunately, Taiga and Shirou were used to fighting other sword users, not spear wielders, and so were unprepared when their blue clad enemy swung the shaft of his weapon at Taiga.

Reacting quickly, Taiga was only able to bring up Tora-shinai in a block instead of deflecting the blow as she had been. The blow struck hard on her weapon with a sharp clack, her arms shook in strain but she was able to hold off the attack. From what Taiga knew of spears, they were most effective against swords because of their longer reach. For this reason, she held her ground at close range to the spear user instead of leaping back. Shirou moved up as well to help defend her.

While facing two opponents in close range may have overwhelmed most spear users, Shirou already knew this one was much more powerful and connected to magic somehow. He and Taiga made a series of strikes against the spear wielder, but the man defended them all and even began to push them back by spinning his spear in continuous slashes that blocked all of their hits with superhuman speed.

Forced on the defensive now, the novice Magus and his brunette guardian were slowly forced to retreat from their opponent. Backing into the hallway, they were doing an admirable job of dodging and deflecting the strikes coming from the spear wielder, but they were only human, eventually a mistake would be made.

Taiga had been taking the brunt of the attack since the battle began. She was a better sword fighter than Shirou was, having been a favorite at a Kendo National Championship until she was disqualified on a technicality. But also, she was Shirou's legal guardian, she wouldn't allow any harm to come to him on her watch. This meant that with more of the pressure on her, Taiga made the first mistake while fighting the spear user.

It was a small mistake, just a slight miscalculation of where the spear would be, but it allowed the spear to get past her guard. And even though she reacted quickly, Taiga felt the spear cut through the top of her tricep before she was able to knock the weapon away.

Reinforcement, one of Shirou's only magic abilities, strengthens the properties of whatever it is applied to. It can make objects stronger, sharper, and tougher. But though this is the skill that Shirou practices the most, he is still a novice Magus and does not understand Reinforcement as much as he thinks. For although Shirou had Reinforced many different objects in his magic training, he had never Reinforced an item that had a magical property or curse applied to it before.

So when Shirou Reinforced Tora-shinai, he didn't realize the consequences. Taiga had used her weapon for years in Kendo practices and competitions. Though she had not used Tora-shinai enough that it would develop a Sentience of Steel and regard her as its master, she had begun the process with her long hours of use. Many had often joked that Tora-shinai had a curse upon it where it would not stop until the wooden sword had spilled blood. They were right.

A small curse of Bloodlust had developed in Tora-shinai from Taiga's use. It was small, almost unnoticeable to any Magus. If Taiga had continued to use her sword until it reached the Sentience of Steel, it would have become a demonic sword, unwieldable by any except its master, Taiga. Through her use, the curse on the sword, as well as her resistance to said curse, would have grown until Tora-shinai could draw blood with every strike and any person other than Taiga that attempted to use the practice sword would fall into bloodlust and madness.

Shirou's Reinforcement made Tora-shinai strong enough to withstand the spear wielder's blows, but it also increased the power of the curse. Unfortunately, Taiga's resistance to her weapon's curse had not grown to match. Though she was able to withstand the curse's effects so far, the intense fight combined with the wound she had received allowed the curse to gain a foothold in her mind.

Taiga became bathed in a black haze as her eye's gleamed red with bloodlust and her face developed an unholy grin. Immediately, she was attacking the spear user with much faster strikes, as if she was on a drug induced adrenaline rush. Because Tora-shinai had begun to regard Taiga as its master she was able to keep her sword skills and not swing like a mindless berserker, but she could not resist an all-out assault on her opponent. The spear user was surprised by the sudden change in one of his opponents. He dodged the first few strikes by Taiga and blocked another, only to be surprised as he found that her blows now had a lot more strength behind them as well.

Shirou was surprised for a moment upon seeing his goofy, immature guardian transformed into this sword wielding demon, before deciding to worry about it later as he rejoined the fight to help Taiga. The combination of Taiga's new cursed strength and Shirou's help was enough to halt their defensive retreat. The combatants were now in a form of stalemate, many strikes were thrown and defended against but neither side was gaining any decisive lead or momentum.

"You two are pretty good, for humans," the spear wielder spoke up.

Suddenly, the spear user disappeared from view. Taiga and Shirou's next attacks struck nothing but air, causing them to overextend slightly from surprise. He reappeared out of the corner of Shirou's eye and used the long shaft of his weapon to launch both Taiga and Shirou through a glass window and into the backyard of the Emiya house. Shirou lost the grip on his wooden sword from the surprise and speed of the maneuver, though Taiga was able to keep a hold on Tora-shinai.

Shirou hit the ground and bounced a few meters across the lawn. Brushing the dirt out of his face, he groaned in pain and felt his ribs which had taken the brunt of the attack. Miraculously, they weren't broken, though they were painfully bruised. With such an injury, and after losing his only weapon, Shirou didn't know how he could continue to hold his would be killer off any longer. He looked over to Taiga, only to find her already getting onto her feet. The haze of bloodlust still upon her as she seemed to ignore her injuries and got ready to fight again.

Using speed too fast for Shirou's eye to follow, the spear wielder moved to where Taiga was on her feet and struck Tora-shinai from her hand. The haze of bloodlust left Taiga's form as she staggered and clutched her head in pain. With a grin, the spear user booted Taiga through the doors of the shed in the backyard.

Calling upon unknown reserves of strength, Shirou ran into the shed to see if Taiga was alright. His relief at finding out she was alive was short-lived as the crimson spear of his enemy came crashing into him, knocking him into some junk scattered about and onto the floor. The spear user walked into the room, put his foot on Taiga to halt her weak struggles and leveled his weapon at Shirou's neck.

"That wasn't a bad fight. Coming from me that means quite a bit, so you can die with some dignity. I won't make the same mistake as last time though. I'll see if you survive after getting your head cut off," the spear user said.

Shirou only glared at his killer. In a corner of the shed, a magic circle began to glow slightly with power.

"After finishing you off, I'll have to kill this girl too. Which is a shame, I like girls with her spirit."

"You think I'll just sit back and let you kill us!" Shirou exclaimed defiantly.

He thought of Fuji-nee. A normal person with no connection to the supernatural world, there was no reason for her to die.

"My life was spared."

He thought of the red pendant still in his pocket. Someone had saved him for a reason, and it was not to die helpless in his own home.

"So there's no way it can end here."

His determination to live grew. He could feel something within him reaching out for salvation.

"I can't be killed in a place like this,"

Before his eyes, the image of a blue and golden sheath appeared. It exuded other-worldly beauty. Just looking at it filled him with the greatest sense of safety. His very being was instantly attracted to it.

"for no good reason by a guy like you,"

Streams of light burst out of the sheath. Reaching. Reaching. An immeasurable distance passed before the light found what it was searching for. It was a sword. The hilt was the same gold and blue as the sheath while the blade was a shining silver. In the same way that the sheath was Protection, the sword was Glory. The light of the sheath met the sword, and a connection was forged across space-time.

"who kills people like it's nothing!"

Suddenly, a blinding flash of light emanated from the magic circle within the shed. The spear user had a surprised expression on his face, but quickly moved to stab his weapon into Shirou's neck. The blow was blocked faster than his eyes could see and the spear user leapt out of the shed in defense of the unknown enemy. Shirou's sight was filled with the vision of his savior.

Bathed in the rising moonlight just entering the shed, she faced the entrance of the shed with her back to Shirou. She had blonde hair that was tied into a bun. A blue dress that flared out at the hips covered her svelte body. She wore a silver armor breastplate as well as armored gauntlets and greaves. Silver plate armor was woven into the fabric of her dress below the waist. The girl turned around, allowing him to see the beautiful, fierce expression on her face and her piercing, bright green eyes.

"In accordance to the summons of the Holy Grail, I have come forth. I ask of you, are you my Master?"

* * *

**So as I was typing this I realized I didn't know how Rin actually fixed Shirou's heart. I also haven't read any stories that went into any kind of detail on it either. Luckily, this just meant I could write my own interpretation. So, what did you guys think of that and about Taiga's fight? There will be more original stuff like that as the story continues so I hope you enjoyed it. **

**As always, please review and respond with any feedback. Reviews either make me want to write more or seriously think about any concerns you might have, so there is no harm whatsoever in leaving one.**

**Next chapter will see a bit of the explanation for the major plot I'm going for, so look forward to it!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Wow, it's been a long time. Much longer than I wanted, sorry. You know the excuses: school, work, life, etc. Also Fate Grand Order came out, that took up some time (Got Saber though!). You may have noticed this update is shorter than normal. That's because after some thinking and looking back over this story, I realized it wasn't set up right. Basically, my main characters didn't act like the main characters. Also, I hid a lot of information at the beginning that wasn't necessary to hide and just made things a little confusing. So, I've decided to rewrite this story. The first chapter is already up under the title A Continuation of Fate. I spent a long time on this first chapter and I'm much happier with how it turned out than the first chapter of this story (which I rushed). My goals for the rewrite are better writing quality, main characters that seem like the main characters, and more consistent updates. Look forward to it! I didn't want to just update this story with that note though, so I've included this short addition as well. It has not been heavily edited or looked over, but that is not the case with the rewrite.**

* * *

Rin was traveling home with her two Servants, Archer and Saber, after a long day filled with patrolling for enemies, fighting an enemy Servant, and saving her sister's friend, Shirou Emiya, from death. All she wanted to do now was get home and have this day end. Fortunately, the Tohsaka Master and her Servants encountered no other problems on their journey to her home.

After arriving at the Tohsaka Mansion, Rin threw off her shoes and began to tiredly make her way up the stairs and to her room when she suddenly stopped at the foot of the steps. She wearily turned to face her Servants who were looking up at her innocently.

"You said you two were unable to follow Lancer after he disappeared right?" she asked slowly.

"That is correct, Master," Saber replied with a hint of shame in her tone at having failed the task.

"And then after I healed Emiya-kun, we left him alone at the place he was almost killed?"

"Yes, why?" Archer questioned.

"No reason," Rin answered softly. "Just wondering how we could have been so stupid!" she nearly yelled. "Once Lancer's Master figures out that Emiya-kun is still alive, Lancer will just be sent to kill him again. All the effort I put into saving his life will have been for nothing!"

"Just calm down, Rin," Archer implored, "how will Lancer's Master find out he's still alive anyway?"

"It's not like Emiya-kun will be hiding, he could be seen by Lancer's Master at any time by just walking around Fuyuki City. We have to go warn him to stay hidden for the rest of the Grail War, maybe fake being sick and stay at home or something."

Rin stepped past Saber and Archer and began to put her shoes back on in preparation of leaving.

"Master, I'm from the future remember?" Archer stated confidently, "I was fine then, so that means that me, or rather Shirou Emiya, will also be fine now."

"Oh, please," Rin said with contempt, "my family's been studying the Second Magic, the Operation of Parallel Worlds, for generations. The moment you were summoned as my Servant, this world diverged from yours creating another parallel world. So unless you created a perfectly stable loop where each future you would be summoned by me into your own self's past, which would then grow up and be summoned by me, and all of your future selves always made the same exact actions at the same exact time, then you're not in your own past but rather in a parallel world.

"This means that just because you turned out ok, the Shirou Emiya of this world might not. It's also why I haven't been forcing you to share your future knowledge with me. I expect little to none of whatever knowledge of the future you have to be of use in the Grail War, especially since your encounter with Lancer has already passed."

Archer looked to Saber with a bit of shock at how quickly Rin had figured this out. Then again, she had always been a prodigy.

"Now come on," Rin said, bringing her Servants' attention back onto her, "let's go save Emiya-kun, again."

She walked out the door and only had to wait a moment before her Servants quickly followed her. They began to quickly leap across rooftops towards the direction of the Emiya house. Rin let herself be carried by Archer once again so they could reach the house more quickly as time was of the essence.

"In accordance to the summons of the Holy Grail, I have come forth. I ask of you, are you my Master?"

Shirou and Taiga gaped in speechless wonder at the figure before them. Shirou grimaced as he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his hand. Tearing his eyes away from the sight of the beautiful girl before him, he examined his hand to find a pattern appear almost like a red tattoo. He looked back at the girl that had just saved him and noticed that she too was staring at the marks on his hand. With a decisive nod, she turned back around and readied her hands as if she was holding something.

"The Servant Saber has come in response to your summons. My sword will henceforth be at your side. Your fate is henceforth my fate. The pact is now sealed."

The newly named Saber dashed from the shed's threshold to the yard where the blue-clad spear user was watching warily. Shirou lurched forward from his position on the ground and shakily stood clutching to the doorway of the shed for support.

"Wait. What pact?" he shouted after the retreating figure of the elegant knight.

"Ugh, Shirou," Taiga said while clutching her head, "who was that girl and why did she call you Master?"

"I don't know," he answered distractedly. His attention was focused on the battle taking place in his backyard.

Saber came to a stop a few meters away from the spear user. They both regarded each other cautiously.

"You again? Where's your Archer friend?" Lancer asked while looking around for the Archer that had fought earlier.

"I do not know what you mean. This is the first time we have met and I do not have an 'Archer friend'," she responded.

"Tch, fine. Hide it if you want. His arrows do nothing to me anyway."

The spear user charged at Saber with speeds Shirou's eyes could not follow. Saber did not seem to have this same problem though, as she neatly sidestepped the lunge. She brought her arms up and to Shirou's surprise the spear was deflected far upwards as if she had a weapon in her hands.

'She's like that person who was fighting this guy earlier,' Shirou thought.

The spear user appeared surprised for a moment, but he quickly composed himself and went back on the attack. He began a series of quick thrusts, each aimed at a slightly different part of Saber's body. To Shirou's amazement, she was able to swing the invisible weapon in her hands and clash with every strike.

The spear user's smirk was quickly removed when he was forced to leap back as Saber struck at him in the time between two of his thrusts. He gripped his spear tightly and scrutinized his opponent.

"So it wasn't my imagination. You're stronger and faster now, how can that be?" he asked.

Saber remained silent.

"Tch, tell me this. Your weapon, it's a sword right?"

"Perhaps, though it could be an axe or maybe a bow," she responded evasively.

"Don't give me that crap. It's obvious that you're the Saber of this War."

"Just as it is equally obvious you are Lancer."

"Hmph, got me there," Lancer said.

Lancer shifted his footing and grip. Facing his back towards Saber, holding his weapon angled down and gripping it as if to make a throw. A red haze grew over the crimson spear as massive amounts of prana once again began to concentrate within it.

'That stance…' Shirou remembered. He thought about warning Saber as she had saved him earlier, but he didn't know what the actual attack did and his calling out would only take some of her attention away from the battlefield.

Saber readied herself as she sensed Lancer about to strike, bringing her invisible sword into a defensive guard stance. The two stared each other down, Saber waiting to block and counter Lancer's next attack while Lancer prepared to bring his full might upon Saber, when Lancer's eyes widened minutely.

The miasma of red energy surrounding Lancer's weapon abruptly disappeared as he swung his spear behind him. A dull clang rang through the open air as an arrow was knocked away from its path to his head.

"Heh, I was wondering when you would show up," Lancer stated while keeping his eyes trained on Saber in front of him, "but you know those arrows won't work on me."

Shirou looked up to where the arrow came from. Standing on the roof of a nearby house, he saw a figure in a hooded, black coat slowly lower a bow. He was surprised to see Rin Tohsaka on one side of the hooded figure while standing on the opposite side was Saber? He quickly looked back and forth between the yard and roof to confirm that yes, there really were two identical Sabers. He looked at his house in longing, wondering if he could just forget today and go to sleep.

* * *

Sakura waved goodbye to the two men sitting in the car that had just dropped her off at the street to her house. She had tried to tell Taiga that she would be fine walking home by herself, but the young teacher wouldn't listen. Taiga had insisted that she be escorted home as there had been a string of disappearances on the news lately.

Personally, Sakura felt safer with the knowledge that Rider was following her in spirit form as opposed to the two Yakuza escorts. After all, the recent disappearances were likely due to a Magus as part of the Grail War and normal humans would pose no protection against a prepared Magus or Servant.

She watched as the car containing two of the men working for Taiga's grandfather, Raiga Fujimura, slowly pulled away. Once it was out of sight, Rider materialized beside her.

"I did not sense any Servants following the car, Sakura," Rider said, breaking the silence.

"That's good," Sakura replied softly. She remained staring into the distance for a moment before sighing quietly. "We should probably get inside, Grandfather will be waiting on me for our session."

"That worm will have to wait, you have a much more important conversation right now."

Sakura and Rider quickly spun around to face the voice that had spoken from behind them. Standing casually was a blond haired man with red eyes. He was looking at them with a smirk on his face that showed great confidence, or overconfidence.

"You!" Rider exclaimed as she moved in front of Sakura to protect her. Sakura looked at the blond man warily, something about him seemed to scream authority and power.

"Oh? I see there are some who still recognize their King. Since you have realized my majesty, you should know that it is useless for one such as you to challenge me, Servant."

"Hmph, what are you even doing here? Did you get bored and come looking for a fight?" Rider demanded.

"You have no right to know the reason for any of the king's actions," the man growled. "But, I will tell you this once. I was intrigued by the false Grail Vessel behind you."

Rider glanced back in the hopes of finding anything else behind her that he could be talking about. "Surely, you don't mean my Master?" she questioned.

"You didn't know?" he taunted. "That Master of yours contains pieces of the Grail from the last War. Now, Vessel, your king demands you present yourself."

Rider reached back and placed a hand against Sakura. "Stay back Master," she warned, "this man is extremely dangerous."

"Is he another Servant?" Sakura questioned.

"He was in the previous War," she replied grimly, "but he was bathed in the mud of the Grail so who knows what he is now."

"You are testing my patience, Vessel," the man threatened, "I have had men executed for less."

Sakura looked to Rider pleadingly. Without taking her eyes from the man before her, Rider quietly murmured to Sakura, "Master, this enemy is too strong for my skills and magic. I will not be able to defeat him, but I don't know what he will do to you if you approach."

"There is truly nothing you can do?" Sakura asked fearfully.

Rider nodded her assent.

"What if you summoned your mount? Would we have a chance then?"

"My mount?" Rider questioned.

"Well, you're the Rider class right? So doesn't that mean you have a Noble Phantasm to Ride?" Sakura said softly.

In front of the pair, two circles of bright, golden light suddenly appeared in the sky next to the man. "I had hoped to conceal my presence for now in this War, but if I must eliminate this Servant to examine the False Vessel then so be it," he stated menacingly.

"Right, as the Rider class Servant of course I would have a mount. I wouldn't be much of a Rider without anything to Ride," Rider said nervously. "So, summoning my mount. Summoning my mount. Umm."

"Do not ignore me you mongrel!" the man exclaimed.

"Ok, here we go," Rider encouraged herself. She placed her legs shoulder-width apart and extended her arms forward to the center of her body, palms facing outward with the left behind the right. A fierce wind suddenly began to blow as Rider began to channel an immense amount of mana to summon her Noble Phantasm, her long, black hair flowed behind her. "Uh, come forth my great mount! I summon you to strike at my foes and guard my allies. Now appear!"

At her words, many things happened within a short amount of time. A large magic circle suddenly appeared beneath Rider's feet. The inscriptions of the circle glowed red and began to pulsate with power. The circle began to spin, slowly but with increasing speed. As the speed of the circle's spin grew faster and faster, the glowing of the circle also began to grow until the circle appeared a blinding, solid red circle of light. With one final flash, the circle disappeared to reveal Rider's mount.

An unnatural silence sat in the air as Rider's mount appeared beneath her in a flurry of magic. Sakura stared at Rider's mount in shock and mortification, Rider appeared frozen in shock by what she had summoned. The blonde haired man before them gaped in surprise for a moment before bursting out in laughter.

"You have amused your King. Rejoice! Your skills rivaled some of my least amusing Fools, but was much better than anything I have found in this new Age of Man. In honor of this, I have decided to spare your lives for now," the man said, chuckles littering his speech intermittently. He turned his back, unconcerned of any possible danger behind him, and exited the area.

"What?" Rider asked blankly, a hollow look in her eyes as she stared down at her mount.

* * *

**I probably won't be continuing this specific version of the story. Everything will most likely be in the rewrite. I may put other POV's of specific scenes in this version but probably not. Thank you everyone who has supported this story so far and please check out A Continuation of Fate if you liked this. It's a much better version that won't keep readers in the dark as much. **


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